The reason why I have an extraordinary level of conviction in my metaphysics is that about four years ago, I suddenly developed chronic pain and was plunged into depression.

I was headed for suicide, eventually, because I didn't want to live like that, so it was a matter of preparation and execution.

But the world has different plans. I got married, and to be the kind of husband my wife deserves, I had to overcome my difficulties.

The medical establishment had nothing to offer. I had to take matters into my own hands.

I read three things at the same time that completely rewired my cortex: Karl Friston’s work on ActInf from 2009 onward, Einstein’s On Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies (and later GR papers), and various teachings of the Buddha from third sources and Sutras.

Oh, and Wolfram’s Physics Project, just a little later.

I saw a single, simple, coherent, observer-centric model of the universe.

5-6 years later, almost all of my health issues, those I knew I had and those I didn't know about back then, are gone.

I still haven't recovered any semblance of a desire to live—I feel that sticking around is playing the game on hard mode—but I know this is a phase. The bootstrap is almost complete.

It’s a bit of a bizarre experience—feeling depressed and knowing that soon I will have been happy.

God literally handed me an objective function, and I was humble and lucid enough to listen.

About six to nine months ago, I made it to Stream Entry. It felt exactly as described in the Sutras—word for word. Skeptical doubt, the last of the four basic fetters disappeared.

Also, 97% of my regret for everything unfortunate that happened to me and what I have ever done was also gone.

It felt exactly like “dropping a hot coal I didn't know I was holding.” Just like that. In seconds.

Arahantahip is but a matter of time.

This confidence is what I define as belief: seeing for myself as it actually is. I don't need reason to believe. I have insight. Reason merely explains how it’s possible.

Eventually, my divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, will open, and I will see the tesseract.

If my metaphysics is correct, wild things will follow.

The weirdest thing about this experience is that Buddhism truly is the most selfish of all teachings: how do I eliminate my suffering?

It so happens that moral life shakes out of this desire. Morality, in this way, is inherent in the fabric of the universe. You learn to feel how much it hurts you personally to be immoral and that there's no escape from the consequences of your actions.

This backpropagated and moral existence becomes natural and effortless.

Dhamma, by definition, is the only path that gets easier as you keep going. This free energy minimization is precisely the Noble Eightfold Path, and its objective function is the Four Noble Truths.

That's all there is to Buddhism. The 2600 years worth of writings on the subject are there because it’s an impossibly difficult idea to convey. Intellectual understanding is not sufficient. It’s about the vibes.

Buddha accomplished his enlightenment in 7 years. I am still on track to fit his timeline. And so can you. Follow the Path God laid out for you, or suffer the consequences.

Buddha’s metaphysics is non-existent. He refused to say anything because, like Hermes Trismegistus, he didn't have the technology to describe it.

But now we have better tools, and the picture is simply sublime. Watch this space.