The Gift of Pattern Recognition and the Uncovering of Biblical Consciousness

Ryan C. Neal and 'The7Realms'
6 min readDec 21, 2023

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The Cognitive Process

If you looked up the meaning of pattern recognition 30 years ago, you would find that the definition largely centered around the capability of man’s mind to put together abstract information, or pieces of data, that solved a problem, or revealed a new discovery.

Pattern recognition was described as a cognitive process that involved the identification of patterns, regularities, or trends in data. It was considered a fundamental aspect of human intelligence and was crucial in various fields, including mathematics, science, architecture, astrology, philosophy, and psychology.

Today, if you Google “pattern recognition”, you’re met with a plethora of descriptions surrounding the concepts of technology, integration, and AI. However, none of the top 10 search options has anything to do with the human perspective of pattern recognition.

Essentially, the concept of pattern recognition is now almost solely ascribed to computer science and algorithms. It’s defined as “a multifaceted concept that plays a critical role in various domains, contributing to advancements in technology, artificial intelligence, and the computation of complex data.”

So, what happened to the human contribution of pattern recognition?

The current world view seems only fascinated with ‘pattern recognition’ as it relates to artificial intelligence- computer vision, speech recognition, and machine learning, etc.

Despite this novel myopia, I am happy to say that the gift of pattern recognition is still present and alive as a spiritual gift to those who wish to perceive it and utilize it. This gift has continued to serve me, as I discover new and enlightening patterns existing in mindfulness meditation, spiritual consciousness, and universality.

So, allow me to share my story.

Patterns, Shapes, and Numbers

I was born with the gift of pattern recognition. It was noted by my mother in early childhood. This gift served me well in my school-age years in my studies of math, science, and language, even religion.

As a child, I was fascinated with patterns, shapes, and numbers. My mother noticed, as early as three years of age, my odd attraction to making patterns, shapes, or designs with anything I could get my hands on. Occasionally, while playing outside with the other kids, I would stop and stoop down to the ground and begin to arrange random sticks or rocks into different patterns or designs.

My mother would recall me pointing out different patterns everywhere I would go. I would become excited about the patterns of the clouds in the sky, trees in the park, bricks on a building, and even cans in the grocery store.

Strangely, one of the most intriguing patterns for me were those I observed on linoleum floors in the kitchens of the 1970s. I remember staring at the linoleum for hours trying to visualize how all the patterns fit together. I found this same fascination with the patterns of mosaic tiles found in bathrooms of the same era. This particular fascination would sometime get me into trouble as you could imagine, since homes in the 1970’s often only had one or two bathrooms.

Additionally, I would spend hours playing with building toy blocks known as Legos and Lincoln Logs, trying to uncover the different structures, shapes, and arrangements I could create.

And then I encountered puzzles. Puzzles, puzzles, and more puzzles. I went from putting together 10-piece puzzles to 100-piece puzzles all before the age of five.

I would reportedly become so enthralled while working on a puzzle, my mother complained that I would often ignore her when she called me or tried to get my attention. She would later explain that while working on a puzzle, it was as if I had entered a trance-like state.

Despite this occasional disregard for my mother’s voice, she always indulged my creativity. I would often hear her say to other people, “I think he is going to be an architectural engineer.” While I was not sure what an architectural engineer was, I assumed it had something to do with building blocks and puzzles.

Next came math. By age 5, I would ask my mother to buy me math books instead of coloring books. Even as a child, I felt as if uncovering the answers to math problems was exciting.

Math books were just like puzzles to me. I especially liked that math always had a definitive answer. I delighted in finishing one book and solving all the problems, just so I could get a new book.

I saw the entire world through patterns, shapes, and numbers. These childhood allures were just a prelude to a lifetime of indulging in and seeking to master my obsession with patterns. I would later come to appreciate this genius as a gift in pattern recognition.

Math, Science, and Religion

I continued my fascination with patterns and numbers in elementary and high school. I was a ‘natural’ in math and continuously excelled in it. In part, I think, because I could always find a specific pattern to reach a finite and definitive answer to any problem. Every number had a discrete measure. The unfolding of a math answer was magic to me. Math spoke to me- it was like a language. I would later come to trust that math was the language of God.

As my understanding of more complex math problems expanded, I became aware of the different patterns, equations or algorithms that were possible to get to a precise answer. In high school, I was mesmerized with the different mathematical computations and calculations, all of which could be used to derive at a particular resolution.

I also noticed similar patterns in the discipline of science, especially when math was essential to explain the principle of scientific rule or law. The patterns between math and science became most obvious to me in the science of chemistry. I likewise excelled in chemistry, in large part because of its marriage to math.

My combined obsessions with numbers, patterns, math, and science persisted throughout my high school years, and it was then that I began to develop the belief that everything in life had a pattern or a formula or a specific order. I believed that if I could find the pattern in a thing, I could answer any question in the world or unlock any secret of the universe.

During my junior year in high school, I decided I wanted to become a physician. The dream of going to medical school and studying to become a physician felt like the perfect transition to apply my love for both science and math. I believed that through the study of medicine I would discover the secrets of the mind, body, and soul, and combine this knowledge with my passion for visualizing patterns and algorithms to heal the world.

The Bible and Quantum Physics

It is worth noting that I spent the entirety of my school years in religious institutions. I went to Catholic schools throughout my elementary, high school, and college years.

As I attended parochial schools, religion was a required course each year. During my transitioned from high school to college, I started to recognize, what I interpreted to be, unique numerical patterns hidden in specific words and scriptures of the Bible. These findings fueled my desire to explore how detecting these patterns, in the words and scriptures, might reveal a hidden secret or unlock a yet undetermined mystery in the Bible.

I started this exploration by identifying any patterns of the most commonly used words in the Bible. I then began to research the definition and interpretation of these words. I sought to ascertain if my newly perceived recognition of such patterns, related to any of these commonly used words, and if these patterns were consistent.

I felt that if I could determine a connection to the meaning, or concept, of these most used words, and establish a relationship to the newly revealed patterns, then I might be able to uncover a hidden meaning or purpose for these unique words and patterns.

In college however, my interest in these numerical patterns turned into an obsession. This obsession began with my introduction to a required pre-med college course which combined the study of both math and science (physics and chemistry) called physical chemistry. Better known as quantum mechanics or quantum physics. It was here that everything changed.

Unlocking the principles taught in physical chemistry put into context every other discipline I had studied thus far, including religion. It was here that my gift of pattern recognition and the interpretation of the universe and its intrinsic secrets hidden in quantum physics gradually began to unfold. This new preoccupation came together in my mind as ‘God, Science, and Math.’

I used my gift of pattern recognition to formulate and design a unique pathway to higher spiritual consciousness through Christian Mindfulness and Biblical Meditation. And thus, The Seven Realms of Spiritual Consciousness (aka ‘The7Realms’) was born.

Home | The Seven Realms (the7realms.com)

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Ryan C. Neal and 'The7Realms'
Ryan C. Neal and 'The7Realms'

Written by Ryan C. Neal and 'The7Realms'

Healer of The Physical Man. Seeker of The Spiritual Man. Student of Christian Mindfulness and Biblical Meditation. Creator of ‘The7Realms’.

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