Welcome Kevin! I'm not AF but working on it; here are some of my thoughts until an AF person chimes in.
Kevin Michael Roddy:
I was afraid I'd never be able to re-experience this world
On the contrary, you need never have that fear, since that world is always here!
• My primary question is regarding learning. As I understand it, one's existence is (essentially) reduced to the function of the sense gates alone. With this in mind, how do you learn? What is your EXPERIENCE of learning? I'd be especially interested to hear from any AF person doing school or a mentally intensive job. I am fascinated by science, but I always regarded contemplation and visualization to be of central importance to learning and understanding concepts. Are you better/worse at learning now? Also applicable is skill development, such as playing an instrument, a new game, or mentally based activities, such as reading a book.
Well functioning in high-pressure environments is definitely easier (from
this thread):
Daniel Ingram:
As I have started to get used to being at work in my very high-volume, high-intensity emergency department physician job where I have to be extremely clear and on-target in my interactions with people, my processing of extremely complex information and my ability to be with what is happening, I can now attest that doing this in PCE mode is way better than Cycle Mode, which can be problematic at times, even at the arahat level.
I have worked probably a total of 5-10 shifts worth of work now in PCE mode and so have a pretty solid basis for comparison, and there is simply no argument at this point for Cycle Mode at all in that very high-stakes and demanding situation from my current point of view. It did take a little while to get used to the fact that the cues to do things are different and the thing functions differently (an example being that in Cycle Mode I might remember to order a chest x-ray after putting in a central line because there was this weird nagging ache in my stomach that I would look at and try to figure out and then would emerge the realization that I forgot to do that as compared to just the body remembering and doing that, which is so much more clean and less fatigue-producing and more pleasant all around), but the adjustment has been relatively easy in comparison to all sorts of other things I have had to adjust to, such as functioning in the Dark Night.
I don't see why removing your self would impact learning. First of all, you already only learn through your sense gates, since you have no other way of getting info. Secondly, it seems learning would be easier as there seems to be practically no mental friction when AF. Your memory doesn't seem to lose any capabilities. Though I suppose I should let them speak for themselves.
• What is the essential difference between AF and PCE?
Two main ones:
* In a PCE there is a self, though it is in abeyance. When AF there is no self.
* A PCE is a temporary experience. AF is not really an experience. Think, A&P : Stream Entry :: PCE : AF.
An interesting point Richard brought up is that when AF, you don't have PCEs, since to have a PCE you need to have a self.