The Emperor

 May we present the Archetype of the Experience of the Mind: the Emperor.

Currently, we are given a great opportunity to manifest this Archetype, through the collective catalyst that is the Covid pandemic (regardless if you believe the pandemic is real or not). You may think for all the spiritually awaken people, such as people in the Law of One community, there would be a general consensus on how to process this catalyst. However, from my observations, this is so far from the fact. From the people in my real-life and online circles, I have observed the following variety of reactions:

1. Covid is a hoax, it's just a bad flu: not going to change my behavior.

2. Covid is a catalyst, but I'm safe from it: no vaccine or mask for me. 

    2.1. Vaccine is harmful and dangerous, a tool for the negative to control.

    2.2  Any mandate on mask, vaccine, or social distancing is a free will infringement, therefore I will not use mask, or take vaccine, or social distance for principal. 

3. Covid is dangerous, but I don't trust or want vaccines. Everyone need boost their health and protest themselves, including through social distance and mask. 

4. Covid is dangerous, everyone need to get vaccine if they can so we can be free of social distancing and masking measures. 

What's more concerning is that people holding these different views all express anger and frustration at those who have an different view. Those who don't agree or act differently are either sheep/slaves, anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorist, STSs, selfish, ignorant... basically stumbling blocks for the collective spiritual evolution.

Depicted as a male figure, the Experience of the Mind is an archetype that we consciously manifest. What is the Experience of the Mind of those with these feeling of anger and frustration? Is this the right-hand path depicted with the hand holding the orb? The mind recognizing itself as the Magician who has the ability to transform? Or the left-hand path signified with the foot, garment, and the hand, pointed and stretched, guarding and keeping itself at a distance from the other selves? 

May I offer another view of the pandemic. Its existence indicates a collective catalyst that we all need, recognized or not. I do feel a majority of people in the Law of One community are pretty safe from it. By that I mean we would not experience something serve enough to cause the end of our incarnational experience: death. The logic part of assumption is from the "great cat"(Ra95.23) that guards depicted in the box upon which the Emperor sits. The box signifies our 3d illusion, and my interpretation is that the "great cat" guards the positive from "the gusts, flurries, and blizzards of quick and cruel catalyst."(Ra95.24) This doesn't mean those along the positive path are protected the same way. There will be variations in our experiences. As Ra said, "the great cat guards in direct proportion to the purity of the manifestations of intention and the purity of inner work done along this path."(Ra95.18) So we will experience different degree of protection. Some may get Covid but recover, some have more severe symptoms than others, some may not get it at all.

Now, what about those who have not polarized positively sufficiently? We probably all agree that's the majority of people here on Earth today. How can they be protected? Masks, vaccines, and social distancing, these are the measures that can offer protection in the material illusion. Yes, the negative could and would use policies with regard to these measures to control. But if we come from the place of Love, do we ignore their suffering because it's the result of their own shortcomings, do we let them be what they need to be? Or do we do something that may be unnecessary for us but would help the less fortunate? This is the Choice, there is no right or wrong answer, but the choice we are here to make in 3rd density. If your choice is not aligned with the choice your Higher Self would make, it will be made known to you somehow.

What is the left-hand path signified in the Emperor with the out stretched arm, leg, and garment? I think humanity has been far too familiar with this path, which is the struggle against something. May it be anti-fa, anti-vaxx, anti-abortion, war on drugs... Let's look at the example of Ten Commandments discussed by Ra. Ra said the commandments "copy or ape positivity while retaining negative characteristics."(Ra16.15) Ra later confirmed the negative characteristics was exhibited in the "Thou shalt not"(Ra16.20) commands. To me, this is a good example to see that the positive path is not about against something that seen as negative, but about operating in a totally different way that's rooted in the positive perspective. Something we've probably not been taught before. 

Now let's look deeper. What are the positivity Ra mentioned in the commandments? I see "not kill" for one. We know that the thou-shalt-not's were for "conquest and enslavement"(Ra16.17), does it mean that we should be against "not killing" and kill as we please? Consider another example. Spiritual information transmitted ages ago have long been distorted through negative influences, especially in many organized religions. Religions have been used to manipulate, control and commit atrocities throughout history. Does it mean we should abandon all the spiritual teaching that's been used negatively? Ra said old and new testaments had the equal amount of Law of One information even though the old testament was more negatively influenced (Ra26.7). 

With an open heart and operate without fear: not fearing Covid, not fearing the vaccine, not the masks, not any mandate, not any attempt to manipulate or control. Do what you consider best to express love on your own accord, not doing it to show that you are "against" something. I think this is what Ra meant with the allegory of the poker game: the positive path is not follow the rule of the game, but to show your hands and say "I love you" to all (Ra50.7).

Q'uo have called vaccine a "healing modality"(2011/03/05). Masks and social distancing have been shown to be effective protection at least for some by science. If you have the trust and view this material illusion from the highest perspective, then you know everything is well and as it needs to be. Then you may see everything is there for a reason. You may not need these protection in the material world, but others do. What do you do then? Force them into the path that they are not well equipped to handle? 

Knowing all is well and allowing can reduce the anger and frustrations of the negativity we see. Here's my choice:

5. I don't fear Covid nor think it will harm me. But being inflected by Covid will cause great suffering and stress to my loved ones. I know getting the vaccine will provide a sense of safety to them. I let the universe direct me, I do not go seek out vaccines, but accept when offered. I got vaccinated when it's offered to me. I know the great white cat protects me from both Covid and any negative manipulation of the vaccines. I follow preventive pandemic measures with flexibility, not with fear but with desire to protect others. I do not let fear override love: if someone are in distress, I would be happy to give them hugs and console without fear even if it violates any mandate in place. 

Basically, operate from love and an open heart instead of fear. It's not about the action. Q'uo spoke at length about "being" and "doing", with "being" as "all that there is" (1991/02/22,1987/08/16). When you try to get someone to see your point of view, you could see that someone as egotistic, stupid, controlling, etc, etc, or you could see someone whose perspective is different because they had not the resources, environment, "the advantages that you had" (The Great Gatsby). These different being-ness while doing the same actions will generated different effect (maybe unseen effect). The difference in the being-ness can sometimes be subtle, and requires inner works to recognize. 

Now you ask, but what about these attempts to manipulate, control, and violate free will that I can see? Do I just not do anything about it? If I don't protest against it, how can it change? Good question. The answer is probably different for everyone. Spiritual teachings tell us that changes come from within and will be reflected in the outward manifestation. Gaze at the Emperor, his work (for the STO path) is learn to better use the orb. To be free of control and manipulation is not to do exactly the opposite what the controlling power direct you to do. Your action is still the result of their manipulation -- this is a trap of their clever control tactics, and it has been repeated through out history. To make a long lasting change, do what Love direct you to do. Do not what your judgement tell you to do. This can feel a bit scary. Consider the question Jesus asks in A Course in Miracles: "do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?" If you think choosing "happy" is easy, consider this hypothetical scenario that can make someone change their answers: travel without the fear of a contagious disease would make me happy. I want that. Getting the vaccine would give me that. But negative entities also force a vaccine mandate on everyone, violating people's free will. Thus I think getting the vaccine means submission to the negative force, thus not a right thing to do. So I cannot choose happy, I need to do the right thing...(then I may start to argue: that's not true, vaccine cannot be good and make me happy, it's probably a negative plot as well... so I am not choosing being right over happy. I'm choosing being right and happy...)

Choose only Love. Be the magician, the Creator. Be the Emperor who learn to master that orb in your hand, and let the magic of transformation happen.

Even as I write this, I also have a small lingering doubt in the back of my head. Does it really work like that? Maybe I'm not advanced enough for it to works me. I decided just to go with it as an experiment that is life. Start with small steps, do what you can. Don't be hard on yourself. Let go that fear. 

The Third Eye -- Science and the Law of One

My path to the Law of One maybe a bit unique. It didn't start with some spiritual pursuit, but with my search for deeper understandings in science. My path has its advantages: "as above, so below", this principle of correspondence allowed me to see more clearly of some of Ra's teachings that others find a bit confusing. This is my attempt to illustrate some of those confusing concepts. 

Dimensions verses Densities

Many are confused about these two terms that Ra uses. Are they the same thing or different? Here's my understanding. 

Ra mostly use "dimension" when referring to qualities associated with locality, such as a place or region in physical manifestation. This is similar to how the term "dimension" is used in physics. I believe Ra used this term as they knew that Don was a physics professor thus would grasp its meaning. "Density", on the other hand, was used to refer to the quality or level of consciousness. Density describes the quality of a state that's not limited to space/time. Interestingly, "density" is also a term in physics that measures the amount of content within a certain volume. In terms of mind/body/spirit complexes, dimension is a feature associated with of the space that the body occupies, density measures the overall state of the m/b/s complex. 

However, there is a correspondence between dimensions and densities. Currently we have 3rd density consciousness and we perceive space to be of 3 dimensions. We think space is 3D because we naturally have 3 degrees of freedom in movement: we can move left/right, front/back, and up/down. However, most of what we perceive in 3D are contained in 4 dimensional space. Namely, the electromagnetic and chemical interactions take place in 4D space. Four dimensional space is not currently recognized by mainstream science but it will be. Furthermore, I also deduced that space that's x dimensional can contain bodies of up to (x-1)th density beings. For example, earth exists in a 4 dimensional space thus can host beings of the first, second, and third density. I suspect that when we reach the 4th density, we can naturally access 4 dimensions of space while learning to recognize the 5D space that hosts the 4th density bodies. 

Because of the correspondence between dimension and density, these two terms seems to be used interchangeably. But knowing how Ra talked, that they spoke words in a very precise manner, they used this two terms very carefully as well. 

For example, in 6.8, Ra was asked about the location of the Council of Nine. Because the question was about a place, the term "dimension" was used in the answer, not "density". So when Ra said "the Council was located in the eight dimension", not the eight[h] dimension as the transcript corrected, they meant the council was located in a region of eight dimensional space, which implied that beings from all densities 1-7 could sit on the council. It doesn't mean that only beings of the 8th density sit on the council.  

Another example, Ra called the 4th density as being "in the dimension of love or understanding" (16.32). In this case it seems dimension and density could be used interchangeably. However, I think Ra used "dimension" because it referred to a region that contains both 4th density positive and negative entities, as Ra later explained (20.36).

Perceiving Dimensions

Part of my scientific endeavor caused me to look into why we believe the space around us is 3 dimensional (3D). Yes, we have three degrees of freedom in movement, but how do we perceive 3D? When we look at something, we see a flat image, how do we tell the 3D depth of the objects in this image? We know this, of course, it is because we have stereo vision. Each of our eyes receives a slightly different 2D image. Through the evolution process, our brains learned to correspond the two images from our eyes with our other senses and eventually were able to process the two 2D images into one 3D stereo vision. 3D movie theaters uses this knowledge to create stereo images from a flat screen, and we know if someone lost the sight in one eye, they will have difficulty determining 3D depth, for they have lost their stereo vision. 

Knowing that third density humans can recognize 3 dimensional space with 2 eyes, I wondered if second density animals can only recognize 2 dimensions. Knowing that stereo vision requires two images that are slightly different, we can deduce that two imagines with nothing in common will not produce stereo vision. Consider animals such as fish and birds, their eyes are located on the opposite side of the body, thus produces none-overlapping images. It is easy to conclude that these second density beings do not recognize 3d space, even though they live in it. However, animal such as mammals have front facing eyes like us, they possess the necessary information to produce stereo vision. This make sense too, for Ra indicated that as second density evolving to the point of ready to graduate to the third density, they will start to develop third density characteristics. Thus 2nd density animals further along the evolution path, such as mammals, have the opportunity to develop stereo vision.

By the same token, we are third density beings ready to move on to the fourth density, thus we start to acquire some fourth density abilities as well. Science will soon recognize that space is 4 dimensional. But will we be able to perceive 4D space? Well, if we need two eyes to produce 3D stereo vision, then to produce 4D vision, we need... a third eye! Now I understand why the indigo ray chakra is called the third eye! Could it be because it gives us the ability to perceive 4D space? I believe so. I think the visions acquired through the third eye give us the experience of 4D space. Since it's not something we normally experience on earth, we often describe it as trippy, weird, and out of this world. 

Well, that's my very geeky understanding of the third eye. I believe it is not just descriptive term about the far seeing ability. It is closely connected with the concepts of dimensions, densities, and their correlation in our evolution. As many of us are aware that many words in our language are packed with deeper meanings and correspondences, now I believe "the third eye" is also one of them.

Cycle Graphs

As my old cycle graph post stopped working, I found this one that's even more informative:

http://bring4th.org/biorhythms/

I did find bug as of now: if you try to generate graphs for more than one birth dates, the graph will only show the one of the first birth date you entered (unless you close the browser and restart). 

What is the 18-day (adept) cycle?

"There is a fourth cycle which we may call the cycle of gateway of magic of the adept or of the spirit. This is a cycle which is completed in approximately eighteen of your diurnal cycles."

" The spiritual or adept’s cycle is an eighteen-day cycle and operates with the qualities of the sine wave. Thus there are a few excellent days on the positive side of the curve, that being the first nine days of the cycle — precisely the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth — when workings are most appropriately undertaken, given that the entity is still without total conscious control of its mind/body/spirit distortion/reality. The most interesting portion of this information, like that of each cycle, is the noting of the critical point wherein passing from the ninth to the tenth and from the eighteenth to the first days the adept will experience some difficulty especially when there is a transition occurring in another cycle at the same time. At the nadir of each cycle the adept will be at its least powerful but will not be open to difficulties in nearly the degree that it experiences at critical times. "

Are We Ready?

It's been a while since I've gained the scientific understanding on why the speed of light does not limit how fast we can travel, how we have misunderstood gravity, why the expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating, and how the particle and wave property of matter are integrated with each other. But how come I have not able to let others to understand what I can? I assume it's because I have not understood it clearly enough to explain it others. But as But as my understandings grow deeper, I also wonder, "maybe we are just not ready?"

Just look at the last great leap in human's understanding of the physical world, Einstein's theory of relativity -- what concrete application did it bring to us? It brought us a limitation: the idea that nothing travels faster than the speed of light - making other intelligence unreachable to us; and it brought out the nuclear age, the world got to witness the terror of nuclear weapons. Knowledge is power, with great power comes great responsibility -- so if we have not learned to act responsibly, we will be deprived of the knowledge?

If it's understood that Earth is not only easily reachable by other interstellar beings, that they've been with us throughout our history, will it really cause mass hysteria and panic? If anti-gravity technology is easily achieved, will we just use it to create more deadly and efficient weapons of mass destruction? 

As far as myself is concerned, do the answers to these questions really matter? If I'm here to gain knowledge for myself and the world, should I do what Krishna told Arjuna, carry out my duties without attachment to the outcome? 

Any ways, I feel the knowledge I have will be ready for the world when the world is ready to receive it. Otherwise it will just be limited to a small group of people who are ready. 

Are you ready? Is the world ready? How long will it take to be ready?

When the world is ready, the transformation will be fast.

Matrix of the Body and Potentiator of the Mind

Archetypes with regard to men and women:

87.28 Questioner: Why is the male and the female nature different?

Ra: I am Ra. When the veiling process was accomplished, to the male polarity was attracted the Matrix of the Mind and to the female, the Potentiator of the Mind; to the male the Potentiator of the Body, to the female the Matrix of the Body. May we ask if there are any brief queries before we close this working?

92.20 Questioner: The Matrix of the Mind is depicted seemingly as male on the card and the Potentiator as female. Could Ra state why this is and how this affects these two archetypes?

Ra: I am Ra. Firstly, as we have said, the Matrix of the Mind is attracted to the biological male and the Potentiator of the Mind to the biological female. Thusly in energy transfer the female is able to potentiate that which may be within the conscious mind of the male so that it may feel enspirited.

In a more general sense, that which reaches may be seen as a male principle. That which awaits the reaching may be seen as a female principle. The richness of the male and female system of polarity is interesting and we would not comment further but suggest consideration by the student.

My Interpretation:

Biological Female: naturally fits in the archetypical role of the Matrix of the Body and the Potentiator of the Mind.

Biological Male: naturally fits in the archetypical role of the Potentiator of the Body and the Matrix of the Mind.

By examining the biological interaction of males and females we can gain understanding of the functions of the Matrix and the Potentiator.

When we speak of the body, we tend to think of the female physique. How female bodies are viewed as beautiful, fertile, capable of giving life. Yet, without a male seeding the female, the female body would be considered barren, incapable of producing new life. Thus male is the Potentiator of the Body, female the Matrix. Matrix -- the female body -- is the fertile land in which new lives can sprout, Potentiator -- the male body -- is indispensable in initiating the new life.

Now we can apply the corresponding property to the Matrix and Potentiator of the Mind. Historically, human society has been patriarchal. Male mind was considered more powerful than female's, capable of abstract thinking, creating new ideas. The creative roles in society has largely been taken by men: craftsmen, scientists, philosophers, mathematicians, politicians, businessmen. But what remain unseen, just like all the lives spun from female bodies, is that these ideas and ideals oozing from men have to be seeded by the Potentiator, which is female.

I assume the ways of potentiating the Mind is many fold, and does not have to happen between a mated pair. Facilitating the generation of new thoughts and ideas is only one aspect of potentiating. Males probably don't become receptive to some type of seeding/potentiation of the mind until they reach adulthood, just as the female body cannot produce off spring until it's matured into adulthood.  However, another aspect of potentiating, which maybe called energizing, may happen through simple social interactions. Young humans is nurtured through this type of energizing. Both mother and father nurture their children, maybe mother is the key in nurturing the mind while father is the key to energizing the body. This maybe the reason why caretakers/teachers are mostly female until the youths reach college age.

As an adult, a male's mind needs to be seeded in order to bear fruit, while females can do the seeding. This is probably a fact that we generally are not aware of. Evidence of this can be seen in mostly the artistic types. Many creative artists such as painters and writers are known to need a muse, supposedly a female who is the source of inspiration to the creative artist. A muse exemplifies the role of the Potentiator of the Mind. The saying "behind every great man stands a great woman" also can be seen as the evidence of the role of female as the Potentiator of the Mind.

Male and Female Attractions

What causes a male and a female to feel attracted to each other and fall in love? The reason is probably many fold. I will just examine the aspects pertinent to the Matrix and Potentiator of the Body and Mind. Most are aware of the physical side of the attraction: scientists would say that males are attracted to female with physical features that are conducive in producing off-springs, and females are attractive to males with physical features that's indicative of healthy sperm production -- such attraction has an evolutionary advantage. Therefore those fertile features of female become "sexy" to males, and vice versa.

But any adult knows that physical features are not the only part of the attraction, sometimes it seems a mystery why one would feel strong attraction to someone while not the other. Now let's consider the aspect that's mostly ignored, the mental aspect of it.

78.11 Questioner: Could you elaborate please on the nature and quality of the matrix and the potentiator?

Ra: I am Ra. In the mind complex the matrix may be described as consciousness. It has been called the Magician. It is to be noted that of itself consciousness is unmoved. The potentiator of consciousness is the unconscious. This encompasses a vast realm of potential in the mind.

It could be that the attraction stemming from the Mind is not easily seen because the "potentiator ... is the unconscious". If analogous to the physical attraction, a male would feel attracted to a female if she is able to potentiate his mind. Since the Potentiator of the Mind is the "unconscious", maybe in some cases a female's potential to potentiate is felt without any outward interaction/communications, but at the soul/spirit level we can naturally know it and therefore physically manifested the feeling as sexual attraction.

A female, likewise, would feel attracted to a male if his mind needs the potentiating that she is most capapble of or is desirable to do. This maybe the reason why it is believed that "good girls" often seems to be attracted to the "bad boys". It could be that the mind that is farthest away from its potential is more attractive to the Potentiator who would consider it the best target for its work. This type of attraction may also be the reason many women seem to want to change the man they feel attracted to -- it is but a distorted manifestation of the desire to potentiate.

Infatuations probably stem from attraction of the Matrix and Potentiator in the Body and/or Mind. And if this attraction is mutual, a love affair is sure to start. Sometimes these initial magnetic attraction do not last, as one is no longer able to fulfill the need of the other for potentiating/energizing for some reason, then the feverish attraction will fade. However, if out of the experience of the initial attraction, a deeper feeling of care and respect, a.k.a. Love, is developed during the relationship, the pair can continue to be a loving companion for each other, fulfilling each other's needs.

Potentiator and the Feminine Power

The lady interviewed in this article has a lot good insight about the feminine power in view of the Potentiator of the Mind, even though she probably have never heard of such a term. The current the feminist movement in the US is quite a bit distorted/misguided. Men and women are equal, but not the same. In addition, I think the Matrix and Potentiator of the Mind and Body are not each exclusively possessed by men or women. Everyone can have some aspects of these archtypes, while some have a natural preference to one or the other. Therefore, only when we become fully aware of and acknowledge each gender's strengths and weaknesses, we can work together to the best of our interests.

batgap.com Interview with David Hoffmeister

The Buddha at the Gas Pump interview of David Hoffmeister.

0:20 - 3:50: Introduction to David Hoffmeister

3:38 - 16:20: "What is the Course in Miracles?"

16:20 - 40:44: "What does ACIM teach?"

• 22:22: Confusion of levels
• 32:40: the mechanics of miracles
• 39:48: Telling of the Raising of the Dead story

44:30 - 56:50: What are Miracles?

56:10 - 1:08:40: What percentage of people are transformed by the teaching in their experience?

• 1:01:10: To what degree do you feel you have achieved self realization?

1:08:40 - 1:12:10: What is it like when you receive guidance from Jesus?

1:12:10 - 1:36:26: What is the daily routine like for a ACIM student?

• 1:21:20 -1:27:30: Is individual striving counter indicated by ACIM?
• 1:27:30 - 1:36:26:  Commenting on the effect a ACIM teacher can have, and on information packed in movies

Questions from a viewer who recommended David for interview:

1. 1:36:26 - : people pleasing
2. 1:41:05 - : what is creation?
3. 1:52:30 - : Beyond consciousness?
4. 1:55:30 - : does God enjoy his creation?
5. 2:09:00 - : after enlightenment, then what?

2:15:00 - ; Lucid dream, the acid test.

2:18:30 - : Last question: if creation is a mistake, shouldn't we just kill ourselves?

"That" which we seek

Enlightenment, awakening, oneness... what is all that? It seems to be something difficult to describe in words, unexplainable but to be experienced. Is it possible to describe the experience? From what I read, it seems to be different for everyone, it's something indescribable, but when it happens, you just know it. 

The interview with Harri Aalto - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview is really interesting to me. I came to view Harri Aalto is a someone with a dual activated body, using Ra's lingo, someone that simultaneously possesses the third and forth density bodies in this incarnation. At the age of four, he came to what he called "self realization".

In the interview, he talked about an experience (watch the link from 7:10 for about 2 min) that got me thinking. It is an experience that made him realize that the thing that all spiritual seekers seem to search for is with him all the time, but only by experiencing not having it, he realized its persistent presence with him/us.  

I do not have any experience like he did, yet I understand him. He also used the example of the space in a room, how it's acknowledged via the surrounding walls . It reminds me of something I noticed recently. Next to where we live, a couple of high-rise apartments were build. The building themselves were not so impressive, as they have the environmental friendly design of bare concrete. But connecting the buildings and the low-rise office nearby, they built a long and straight corridor with 3-story high ceilings. It really lightens up the place and looked magnificent/grand.  

I wondered about the feeling this corridor could induce when you first see it. Just a few steps away, there is a grassy ground the size of football field where you can see straight out the same distance as you can in the corridor, and you can look up the sky as far as you can see, much further than the corridor's ceiling, then why walking into that open field does not induce the same sense of awe as walking into a man-made corridor?

I think this can be viewed in the same light as Harri's example. This "thing", this unboundedness -- it is with us all the time, but we don't noticed it. Some of our experience of limitations, such as the walls that made up a room and the construction of a corridor enclosing a space, make us become aware of "it", then we call that experience enlightenment, awakening, self realization, or whatever...

This unboundedness is called by many names: silence, God, nothingness, divine, enlightenment, oneness, infinity, the now... It is the waterThere are these two young fish swimming along, and happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says: "Morning boys, how's the water?" The two young fish swim on for a bit, and eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes: "What the hell is water?" in This is Water; it is the present in Present; it is what induced the feeling when we see the grand canyon for the first time; it is what Jill was able to experience when she suffered a stroke. 

It is ever present, but it is not always felt. Many people seek to experience it, but we seem especially seek to experience it through some grand, awe-inducing ways.  Or maybe only when it is grandiose and awe-inducing, then we noticed it? People try meditations, psychedelic drugs, maybe even sky diving... I seem to be content just knowing it's there, and being consistently aware that it's there through ordinary experiences.