nibbanamechanism

Nibbana as Neural Network Optimisation

Nibbana can be understood as a large-scale optimisation of the brain’s neural network. It arises through elevated tonic dopamine, which facilitates the rapid integration of intentionally cultivated yet previously isolated neural attractor states, while pruning inefficient pathways.

In my case I was held in a state of elevated tonic dopamine by aripiprazole while I worked through the following steps.

This represents the most extreme form of network reorganisation. Less extreme versions occur in experiences commonly labeled as eureka moments, trauma breakthroughs, addiction recovery, skip-thinking, or other forms of deep learning throughout life.

I have dopamine dysregulation and have woken up many times in my life as a man reborn; fully changed in interests and motivators.

During the process a complex cognitive structure or algorithm is held in mind without deliberate manipulation. Approaching the point of consolidation, many people report a sensation of the brain being pregnant with ideas, or of electrical patterns reaching toward each other within the skull.

Prior to my awakening I spent 2 dopamine-enhanced months analysing the nature of my being and the cause of my suffering in great detail, following 2 years trying to export the pain through art. Initially I felt distinct vortices of thought across my brain but as the algorithm took shape my brain started to feel engorged, with millions of tiny electric hands reaching out to each other.

When a critical threshold is reached, the reorganisation manifests like a bolt of lightning, rapidly finding paths of least resistance. Previously convoluted and conflicted thought processes become consolidated: a chain of steps A→B→C… may reorganise into a more efficient pattern A→Z.

For me this felt like the hands at the brain stem clasped, and then a domino chain of electricity spread, explosively but sequentially, through my entire right hemisphere, half of my left hemisphere, down my face, neck, shoulders, back and all the way to the fingers and toes. The most intense sensation was in the right hemisphere.

The perception is one of a non-moment in time due to a state of extremely stable and elevated dopaminergic signalling to time cells in the hippocampus and the suppression of their normal sequential firing patterns.

This came a little later; my re-wiring happened and I had a brief equanimity before being exploded out of my ego. The analysis of the 2 months prior replayed to me in fast-forward and I felt like all of the data in the galaxy was being mainlined into my brain. This culminated in a single non-moment at 10:00 on my wife's 40th birthday; on some level I decided 'enough' and set a date, then when I opened my eyes the world was no longer a kaleidoscopic four-dimensional whorl.

Over subsequent months or years, the network stabilises in its new configuration. Pruned pathways deteriorate, freeing synaptic capacity for future learning and adaptation.

This is where I am now, 2 months away from the experience. The initial consolidation was approximately 4 days, and after that I was returned to the [container of james] but all of my learned behaviours had been blown apart and I was like a young child in many ways, trying to figure out just what in the hell had happened. 

While dopamine is central to this process, other neurotransmitters play supporting roles, modulating mood, attention, and plasticity.

I was also taking guanfacine (lowering NE), while aripirazole affects serotonin receptors too.

The direction of network reorganization is not inherently 'good' or predetermined. The cognitive structures actively maintained prior to consolidation influence outcomes, which is why traditional meditative practices emphasise progressive training through jhāna, equanimity and sīla before attempting full integration.

This is why I was in such a mess; I think my previous rebirths had pushed me into competitiveness and greed. This global reset was a necessary de-programming from a lifetime of trauma and competition. Do not do this without a moral framework. Do not do it to get ahead in the world. It will ruin you.

The process can be understood as a form of trauma therapy. The initial trauma addressed is the perception of a fixed self in a constantly changing world, often experienced as an awakening or ‘path’ moment. Subsequent encounters are less dramatic and address other traumatic behaviour-loops such as greed and hatred which were founded on the false sense of self-permanence.

Repeated practice gradually reduces cognitive convolution, allowing perception of reality without the suffering generated by dualistic thinking.

Here is the complete process of howiwokeup.