the causal loop

a feedback loop occurs when a system's output feeds back into its own input source, creating a self-sustaining and ever-potentiating circuit. one example is the screeching noise heard at rock concerts when too much sound from the speakers filters back into the microphones; if the phenomenon isn't checked, it can destroy the sound system.

the ego-identified mind can operate much in the same way. disconnected from its true source, it projects outward in search of a lost sense of connection and completion. it references inner value externally (where it can never be found), each failure exacerbating the sense of alienation and inadequacy.

the causal loop of egoic suffering is particularly insidious because its apparent solution--seeking external means of healing--is its very fuel. under this faulty paradigm, the harder we try, the more entrapped we become. and to complicate things further, the only real solution seems completely counterintuitive, even nonsensical.

despite all this, the way out of existential chaos is startlingly simple. ultimately we're all only looking for ourselves. this means there's nowhere to go, nothing to learn or attain, because we already are what we are. the only thing separating us from this realization is the disturbed, outward-reaching state of egoic consciousness. when we turn around to meet ourselves, we know beyond all possible doubt that we already are everything we need. we never were, and could never possibly be, separated from what we are.