Intelligence comes from the Latin inter-legere,
to choose between. There seems to be a capacity to
make choices operating inside each cell in our body,
down to the level of individual proteins and
enzymes. DNA itself is a kind of "text" that
functions through a coding system called "genetic
code," which is strikingly similar to codes used by
human beings. Some enzymes edit the RNA transcript
of the DNA text and add new letters to it; any error
made during this editing can be fatal to the entire
organism; so these enzymes are consistently making
the right choices; if they don't, something often
goes wrong leading to cancer and other diseases.
Cells send one another signals, in the form of
proteins and molecules. These signals mean: divide,
or don't divide, move, or don't move, kill yourself,
or stay alive. Any one cell is listening to hundreds
of signals at the same time, and has to integrate
them and decide what to do.
DNA is a single molecule with a double helix
structure; it is two complementary versions of the
same "text" wrapped around each other; this allows
it to unwind and make copies of itself: twins! This
twinning mechanism is at the heart of life since it
began. Without it, one cell could not become two,
and life would not exist. And, from one generation
to the next, the DNA text can also be modified, so
it allows both constancy and transformation. This
means that beings can be the same and not the same.
One of the mysteries is what drives the changes in
the DNA text in evolution. DNA has apparently been
around for billions of years in its current form in
virtually all forms of life. The old theory—random
accumulation of errors combined with natural
selection—does not fully explain the data currently
generated by genome sequencing.
In Indian temple you will frequently see two
snakes or snake like human being inter-winged with
each other. They symbolize the double helix
structure of DNA in human gene. Extreme spiritualism
leads to Samadhi, which changes the DNA structure,
that is mutation of cells takes place.
The structure of DNA as we know it is made
up of letters and thus has a specific text and
language. You could say our bodies are made up of
language, yet we assume that speech arises from the
mind. How do we access this hidden language? By
studying it. There are several roads to knowledge,
including science and shamanism. The symbol of the
Cosmic Serpent, the snake, is a central theme in
your story, and in your research you discover that
the snake forms a major part of the symbology across
most of the world’s traditions and religions. Why is
there such a consistent system of natural symbols in
the world? Is the world inherently symbolic? This is
the observation that led me to investigate the
cosmic serpent. I found the symbol in shamanism all
over the world. Why? That's a good question. My
hypothesis is that it is connected to the double
helix of DNA inside virtually all living beings. And
DNA itself is a symbolic Saussurian code. So, yes,
in at least one important way, the living world is
inherently symbolic. We are made of living language.
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