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ATR AI Prompt Suite to Translate AtR Blog Articles

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Awakening to Reality · AI resources

ATR AI Prompt Suite

A compact gateway to the full AtR translation and Blogger-publishing prompt suite, plus Cosmic Transcriber for long-form audio transcription.

Current prompt suite: Batch99. It includes source-specific translation checks and support for the Hindi Seven Stages workflow, while retaining earlier safeguards.

How to use the prompt suite

  1. Open the full prompt-suite page or download the relevant prompt pack.
  2. Use a current thinking/reasoning-capable system such as ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, or another comparable system.
  3. For a complete Blogger translation, begin with the Universal Intro Prompt and provide the source HTML, target language, and required output mode.
  4. For publication-quality work, run the relevant Prompt 6 / Prompt 9 review and Strict HTML QA rather than stopping after the first draft.

Optional companion tools

Use the prompt suite and steps above first. These optional tools support audio transcription or text-to-speech; neither is required to use the prompts.

AUDIO → TEXT

Cosmic Transcriber

Turn supported audio and video recordings into TXT / Markdown transcripts with your own OpenAI API account.

GitHub source code only. This browser-based edition is separate from the desktop ZIP above and is not its source repository. Tested by the developer on iPhone Safari; Mac Safari has not yet been manually tested.

TEXT → MP3

CloudScribe Pro

Turn reviewed text into synthetic MP3 narration with your own Google Cloud Text-to-Speech credentials.

Two different jobs, two separate services. Bring your own credentials; OpenAI and Google Cloud usage are billed separately and are not included in a ChatGPT subscription.

Cosmic Desktop 1.0.29 (Windows x64): the current ZIP does not bundle the .NET runtime. Read its README.md first; install Microsoft .NET 10 Desktop Runtime (x64) separately if missing. Extract the whole ZIP into a writable folder and launch CosmicTranscriber.exe normally; do not run inside the ZIP. API usage is billed separately.

MP3 works without a converter. Other supported local audio/video files, including M4A, WAV, FLAC, Ogg/Opus, MP4 and WebM, require separately installed FFmpeg and ffprobe on PATH; neither is bundled or downloaded by the app. Conversion uses the first audio stream and makes a temporary lossy MP3, leaving the original unchanged. Codec support depends on your converter; protected or damaged files and videos without usable audio may be rejected. Import and conversion do not send an OpenAI request. Media formats and limits.

New in 1.0.29: a guided first transcript

New to Cosmic Transcriber? Choose Start tutorial in the First time here? invitation. The seven-page walkthrough shows you how to connect your account, add recordings, choose a model and output folder, check estimated costs, and find your finished transcript.

You can skip the invitation, close the guide whenever you like, or reopen it with Quick start or F1. Keep it beside the app while you work; Show this area takes you to the relevant controls.

Read the complete tutorial introduction. API transcription is billed separately; reading the tutorial does not upload audio or start a paid request.

1.0.28 update: fixes mouse opening of the model selector and popup placement while scrolling. Escape asks before stopping transcription because an already-sent request may still be charged; local import can still be cancelled immediately. Full release and media guide.

CloudScribe Pro 1.0.8: From reviewed text to MP3

Optional text-to-speech companion · Windows · Version 1.0.8

Proofread your text, then use your own Google Cloud Text-to-Speech account to turn articles, translations or transcripts into MP3 narration. Version 1.0.8 adds an optional tutorial, improves file and folder imports, and checks more output problems before you spend. It also improves the option to skip spoken web addresses. You can still arrange a batch, review costs, and compare supported Neural2 and Chirp 3 HD voices using a complete document.

The app is free. Google Cloud speech is a paid service. Before generating audio, set up your own Google Cloud project with billing and the Text-to-Speech API enabled, and connect your service-account credentials using the setup guide. Check Google’s current prices and your account’s charges. The Windows ZIP includes the runtime needed to run the app, but does not include anyone’s private batch-spending settings, Long Audio setup or full-article permissions. Seeing Batch MP3 does not approve spending, and the download does not provide unlimited free narration. Supported voices depend on the way you generate audio: Long Audio is limited to its configured voice and language; ordinary full-article narration supports Neural2 and Chirp 3 HD within their respective limits. Each saved document needs permission for its exact text, selected voice and reading plan, plus a separate review and approval of the cost. Choosing a voice from the list does not unlock unrestricted long narration or reuse another voice’s permission.

What changes in 1.0.8?

  • A tutorial you choose to open: a fresh profile shows First time here? with Start tutorial and Skip for now. The invitation does not block the workspace or open the tour automatically. The choice is remembered; Help replays the walkthrough. Back, Next and Escape guide navigation do not approve a cost or generate speech.
  • More careful handling of web addresses: when you choose to skip web addresses, the new rules still recognize links such as 84000.co but are less likely to remove ordinary sentences by mistake. They can still make mistakes, so read the complete preview before saving. The detailed rules and examples are below.
  • Your older copies stay unchanged: previously saved narration copies and jobs keep the rules used when they were created. To use the improved rules, make a new narration copy from the original and review it separately. Existing audio and records of jobs with uncertain results are preserved.
  • More reliable folder imports: CloudScribe can recognize supported Windows cloud folders, including available OneDrive folders. It skips folder links and unsupported special folders rather than risk repeatedly following the same path. Unreadable or unavailable folders are reported, while other readable files can continue. Importing from OneDrive does not mean it is a supported place to save the resulting MP3s; see the output-folder guidance below.
  • Better handling of long names: when a title or MP3 filename is too long for Windows, CloudScribe shortens it without cutting a character or emoji in half. Track numbers and suffixes for duplicate filenames are included in the length check. One file that cannot be added to the library no longer blocks every later file, although a problem affecting the whole batch can still stop the import. Your source text and the names of jobs already started are unchanged.
  • More checks before generating an article: CloudScribe checks the output folder and confirms that the required audio tools are still the approved versions before creating a new batch article job, and again before requesting more speech, including during recovery. Rehearse helps you find problems, but it cannot prevent every later disk failure. Long Audio saves its result differently: copying the MP3 to your chosen folder can fail after Google has already charged for the speech.

Earlier improvements are still available: you can close slow voice-list lookups, scroll through previews, compare full-document readings, reorder a batch, undo changes and reopen saved drafts. Each paid request still needs the required setup, review and approval. If a previous request has an uncertain result, check it before trying again.

Earlier improvements that remain available

Retained improvements from 1.0.7 and 1.0.6

  • Dismiss a slow catalog lookup: while Voices loads or fully refreshes the connected catalog, use Close, Escape or the window close button. The app requests cancellation, and late results cannot overwrite newer screen state. If the background operation is still cleaning up, reopening keeps another catalog load blocked until it finishes.
  • More usable previews in small windows: narration text can scroll while Save and Close remain reachable. Ordinary previews support Escape and return focus to an eligible opener. A copy save already underway must finish before dismissal.
  • Clearer outline labels: paragraph and current-text entries have meaningful accessibility names instead of internal type names.

Also included from 1.0.6:

  • Two voice-list buttons serve different purposes: Load connected voices / apply locale loads the available voices while keeping any still-valid checks for the same account, project and voice list. It does not extend their expiry. Refresh connected voices (full verification) runs the checks again and may require you to review an earlier plan again. Changed account details, project or voice list, or missing or expired checks, require fresh verification.
  • Historical URL omission: new preparations in 1.0.6–1.0.7 used v2 and could omit conservative bare addresses such as 84000.co. Existing v1 copies, bound batches and jobs retain their original text and policy; they are not silently upgraded and their approval is not borrowed.

Full-document Neural2/Chirp 3 HD comparison arrived in 1.0.5. Batch drag-and-drop, ordering, Undo, saved drafts and the original URL-omission workflow arrived in 1.0.4. Busy-close safeguards for paid generation, samples, replay and export remain. Closing a window is not a refund.

Install: extract the complete ZIP and keep its folders together. Use START-CLOUDSCRIBE.cmd for the portable package, or follow the installation guide. Connect your own Google account using the guide, choose a verified voice, review the exact text and cost, then approve generation. Do not share credentials or copy another person's profile.

CloudScribe 1.0.8 empty Studio workspace with an optional Start tutorial or Skip for now invitation and the main toolbar
CloudScribe 1.0.8: a new, empty workspace offers Start tutorial or Skip for now without blocking the app. Help replays the guide. Create MP3, Batch MP3 and Voices remain available in the toolbar. No document, connected account or audio is present in this clean demonstration.

Compare two voices using the same complete passage

This compares synthetic readings of the same text; it does not clone a person's voice. Identical text can have different running times in different voices. The example below uses English voices. It does not imply Neural2 is available for Mandarin or that every catalog voice supports full-document narration.

  1. Save one document per voice: copy the complete comparison passage into separate documents using Library > New document, give each a distinct title and press Ctrl+S. Keep the text identical and the document identities separate. Preserve any earlier document and its audio. Save all edits; an empty document or unsaved changes cannot enter this review.
  2. Choose a connected voice: open Voices, set the language and region, then choose Load connected voices / apply locale and select a voice. This keeps still-valid checks for the same setup without extending their expiry. Use Refresh connected voices (full verification) when you need to check the setup again; you may then need to review an earlier reading plan again. Both buttons retrieve Google’s voice list without generating speech. A reference-only voice cannot generate audio. If the account, project or voice list changes, or the checks expire or are missing, verify the setup and review the plan again.
  3. Review the whole document: choose Review full document with this voice. This uses the saved Studio document, not the sample box. Check the exact document and voice, retained audio, remaining requests and maximum cost.
  4. Complete the required setup, then approve the cost: CloudScribe must be configured to allow that exact saved text, voice and reading plan. Each document also needs its own in-app cost review and approval. Missing, expired or mismatched permission will block generation. If you see Choose a separate document for this voice, open the document saved for that voice rather than altering an earlier job to bypass the warning.
  5. Keep and compare the results: repeat with the other voice's separate document. Generate only after its setup, review and approval are complete. Keep both MP3s and listen for pronunciation, pauses, names and the ending. Do not generate again merely to replay an existing result.

If the voice list loads slowly, use Close, Escape or the window close button. CloudScribe asks the lookup to stop. You may have to wait briefly before loading the list again while that operation finishes in the background. Older results will not overwrite newer selections. Closing a window does not cancel a charge or undo work Google has already received. During generation, samples, replay or export, the app may require the current operation to finish or stop safely before closing.

Choosing a voice is separate from testing a short sample. Use selected voice in Studio can work even when the sample box is empty, longer than 500 characters, or uses a voice family unavailable for short samples. The selected voice must still be currently available in your connected account. A short sample and a complete document each need their own setup, review and approval. Adding permission for a separate comparison preserves earlier documents, audio, jobs and spending records.

The public ZIP does not include full-document comparison permission. The current additive comparison setup covers two distinct saved en-US documents with identical text: one for en-US-Neural2-D and one for en-US-Chirp3-HD-Aoede, within a separately reviewed shared allowance. That setup must be reviewed and installed separately; downloading the app does not enable every voice for arbitrary text. Existing admissions still pass their own checks. See adding a separate exact article admission.
Short samples, full documents and Long Audio: which route?
  • Official browser samples: Google's prerecorded examples do not read or send your document. They are a useful first listen, not proof of your article's final result.
  • In-app short samples: the separate 1-to-500-character box supports Standard, WaveNet and Neural2 only. Review the exact cost and explicitly approve Generate sample; it may be billed. Chirp 3 HD does not use this short-sample route.
  • Ordinary full documents: supported Neural2 and Chirp 3 HD voices require exact admission. Neural2 uses plain-text MP3 requests of at most 5,000 serialized bytes, including JSON escaping and fields, not 5,000 characters. Natural boundaries are preferred; otherwise text splits only between complete Unicode text elements. Indivisible input that cannot fit stops planning rather than losing text. This release does not add SSML or voice-control support.
  • Limits still apply: full-document planning does not use the sample box's 500-character limit and is not unlimited. Existing resource bounds are 1,000,000 Unicode scalars per source and 10,000 coverage parts, alongside import, request-byte, provider, expiry and spending checks. Chirp keeps its existing planning rules. One batch uses one voice; comparisons require separate saved documents or batches and exact approvals.
  • Long Audio needs its own setup for the permitted voice, language, storage and spending limit. It runs in the background rather than returning the entire recording immediately. Simply selecting Aoede or Neural2 does not enable this option or expand what it is allowed to generate.

The estimate, your approved limit and amounts reserved within the app are not Google’s bill. Choose a voice by listening: a higher price does not guarantee a better reading of your text. Read the full voice-comparison guide.

CloudScribe 1.0.8 Voices comparison window with reference-only Neural2-D, separate catalog loading and full verification, disabled full-document review, and a 141-character short sample
CloudScribe 1.0.8: Load connected voices / apply locale is separate from Refresh connected voices (full verification). Full-document review is separate from the 1–500-character sample box, which contains 141 characters here. This offline example shows reference-only en-US-Neural2-D with no connected catalog or saved document, so review and sample generation are disabled. No speech was requested. Displayed prices are dated references, not live quotes.

One TXT file, one MP3

Open Batch MP3 beside Create MP3, or open Queue in the page or player drawer and drop TXT files or folders into the visible drop area. This prepares a draft, not audio. A populated batch list accepts more files too; optional subfolder import and file pickers remain available.

New files append after your arranged list in natural folder/name order. The same source file added twice is ignored and reported. Different files with identical text remain separate tracks. Files are not merged into one book-length recording.

Arrange before you approve

Drag rows using their grips, follow the insertion line, and move a Shift/Ctrl selection together. Undo covers adds, moves, removals and discarding a draft while the window is open. Keyboard options include Alt+Up/Down, Alt+Home/End, Delete and Ctrl+Z.

Choose or refresh the voice inside the batch window. Successfully autosaved drafts survive reopening, even while waiting for a voice. Watch for save warnings and keep the window open if saving fails.

Skip spoken web addresses, keep the source

Opt into Skip web addresses in narration, preview the actual narration text and omission count, then save a separate narration copy. The original document and TXT remain unchanged. New preparations use v3: explicit HTTP/HTTPS and www links, plus conservative bare ASCII addresses such as 84000.co and EXAMPLE.COM, can be omitted. Inline Markdown labels and email addresses remain. V3 keeps additional sentence-like forms that v2 could remove; older v1/v2 copies retain their recorded text and policy. Always inspect the preview rather than assuming every omission is correct.

Batch drafts offer Preview selected narration text. URL-only inputs are excluded locally instead of becoming empty paid requests. Text with no recognized URLs needs no extra copy. Check the limits and preview below before saving.

Review the saved copy, including long text

For pasted or existing document text, use Create MP3's preview and Save and use narration copy. The copy opens for its own review and offers Open original in Studio. Unchecking the preparation option does not put URLs back into an already-saved copy.

A long copy offers Review this copy as a one-file batch. Choose an output folder and review it using your configured batch or Long Audio option. This new copy needs its own permission checks and spending approval. If another unsaved draft is open, CloudScribe keeps it safe; finish or explicitly discard it before continuing.

CloudScribe 1.0.8 unsaved batch with two synthetic TXT files, ordering controls and a missing verified voice message
CloudScribe 1.0.8: two synthetic TXT files are arranged in an unsaved batch. The ordering controls and next setup step are visible. This clean demonstration has no verified voice, so saving the batch and rehearsing are disabled. Preparing or arranging files does not generate speech or approve spending.

A practical first batch

  1. Prepare: proofread your articles or translations and save each intended track as a TXT file. Drop files or folders into Queue or Batch MP3. Choose whether to include subfolders, then arrange the list.
  2. Voice and output: choose a verified voice in the batch window, an engine preference and output folder. Optionally number the MP3 filenames and preview URL omission. Unsupported, empty, unreadable or oversized inputs are reported, not silently narrated.
  3. Save and review: choose Add to library and save batch. Source files are reread before saving. Review each file's engine and maximum, the batch total, and any missing setup or admission.
  4. Rehearse, then approve: Rehearse (no cost) checks the files, voice, writable output folder, audio tools, spending setup and approval without synthesizing speech. Resolve every blocking check. Preparing a draft or passing local checks does not itself approve a paid request.
  5. Run and inspect: after the required approval, Start processes files in order. Results separate done, failed, needs checking, skipped and waiting. Use Open output folder or Play selected MP3. Existing files are never overwritten; conflicting names receive a numbered suffix.
CloudScribe 1.0.8 v3 narration preview omits two web addresses while retaining sentence-like text, Chinese, accented text, an emoji and a synthetic email address
CloudScribe 1.0.8, url-omission-v3: this synthetic preview omits one HTTPS link and 84000.co (two omissions), while retaining awareness.In this state, for us.Us and them, section 3.in the appendix, 2024.de facto, Chinese and accented text, an emoji, and [email protected]. The original text and files remain unchanged. This is a local preview, not generated audio; inspect every preview because v3 is still a conservative text rule.

URL omission v3: inspect the preview before saving

New 1.0.8 preparations use url-omission-v3. They recognize explicit HTTP(S)/www addresses, inline Markdown destinations and selected bare ASCII addresses, including 84000.co, EXAMPLE.COM and read.84000.co:443/translation?q=one%20two#part. Markdown labels and surrounding punctuation/whitespace remain. Preparation does not generate speech.

Why the policy changed: the v2 policy used by 1.0.6–1.0.7 could mistake ordinary prose for an address. V3 keeps awareness.In this state, for us.Us and them, section 3.in the appendix and 2024.de facto. A bare-domain suffix must be all lowercase or all uppercase, rather than mixed case. The preceding label normally needs a letter; all-digit names are retained as domains only on com, org, net, co or io. Two-label names ending in .in or .us without a path or port are kept as text.

This is still not perfect: a lowercase run-on such as nothing.ai is wrong can still lose nothing.ai. A bare address directly joined to Chinese text, such as 見84000.co譯本, is kept. Keeping a doubtful token means it will be spoken. Review the result and use the original if it is unsuitable.

Exact recognition limits and exclusions
  • The fixed suffix allowlist is com org net edu gov co io ai dev app info biz uk us ca au nz de fr jp cn in sg hk tw, subject to the v3 conditions above. This is a local lexical rule, not DNS lookup, the Public Suffix List or proof that a site exists. Common suffix-only tokens such as co.uk, org.uk, ac.uk, gov.uk, com.au, net.au, org.au and co.nz are kept.
  • A bare host is limited to 253 ASCII characters, with 1–63-character labels containing letters, digits or internal hyphens. Valid numeric ports up to 65535 and supported ASCII paths, queries, fragments and percent escapes are handled. Commas, semicolons and exclamation marks delimit bare addresses, including paths.
  • Email addresses, explicit non-HTTP schemes, local paths, malformed labels/ports/escapes, unbalanced path brackets, Unicode or punycode bare hosts, Unicode bare paths and adjacent Unicode letters/marks are preserved. Unknown suffixes and ambiguous tokens such as archive.zip, notes.md, this.is and decimal/version numbers remain. Explicit HTTP(S)/www links retain their broader existing rules.
  • URL preparation retains its local bound of 16,777,216 UTF-16 text units per document and deterministic work limits. A complexity failure does not return a partial copy. Other import, provider, approval and spending limits still apply.

Older narration copies keep the rules used when they were created. Copies made with v1 keep web addresses without http or www; v2 can remove some ordinary text by mistake. The preview identifies older rules. Reopening a copy, resuming an import or moving it into a batch does not update its text or transfer its approval to a new request. If CloudScribe cannot confirm which rules belong to an older draft, it keeps the older behavior or blocks the operation rather than guessing. A draft that has never prepared a copy uses v3 when you first turn on URL skipping.

To apply the improved rules to older material, keep the existing job records and audio. Make a new narration copy from the original text, or a new batch from the original TXT files. Read the complete preview, complete the required setup for the new copy and approve its cost separately. Do not alter a job with an uncertain result just to send it again. The older Simplify URLs editing command is a different feature.

Read the complete v3 policy

Choose the output folder before approving a batch

For ordinary article narration, choose an existing folder stored directly on your PC and a new MP3 filename. Folder links and other paths that Windows marks as reparse points, including cloud-placeholder folders with that marker, remain unsupported even if they appear writable. You can import TXT files from supported OneDrive folders, but do not assume you can also save the MP3 there. For this option, choose a separate ordinary local folder rather than using the input folder by default.

CloudScribe checks the destination and verifies that the required FFmpeg/ffprobe audio tools match the approved versions before creating a new batch article job, and again before requesting more speech, including during recovery. If it stops before creating a new job, it reports that nothing was sent. For an existing job, fix the folder or audio-tool problem and use Check again. Its audio, job record and reserved part of the spending allowance are kept. Do not create a replacement just to retry. Fixing the folder does not automatically approve continuation. A stopped job may need a separate review before it can continue. Completed jobs check their existing output without generating it again, and the final export checks the folder and tools once more.

Long Audio saves the result in two stages: it checks the audio tools before sending the request, then checks the saved speech before copying it to your chosen output folder. This copy can create a missing folder, reuse an identical file and refuse to overwrite a different file. It does not use all the same folder checks as ordinary article narration, so a copy failure can happen after Google has billed for the speech. If the app says speech is saved, retry the local copy instead of generating again. No option can detect every later disk or sync failure before you spend.

Before using longer articles or a paid batch

The ordinary short-request route has a 5,000-byte compiled-request ceiling, including request fields and escaping, not 5,000 characters. Longer full-article and Long Audio routes require separate installed setup and exact admissions. Batch can use Long Audio first where permitted, or the separately admitted ordinary article engine. It is not an unrestricted bulk-synthesis service.

Each saved batch has its own approval for the exact content, voice, engines and maxima. Added files or changed request content need new review and approval. Idle waiting files without a started job can be moved or removed; started files remain protected. Read the full rules before starting.

Stopping does not guarantee a free cancellation. A request Google has received may finish and be charged. Unknown requests are never automatically resent. Check again, then Resume, reconciles the recorded job where possible; without a saved operation ID, the app cannot retrieve that request's status. Do not create a new request merely to get around an uncertain outcome.

Costs and privacy: the app shows an estimated maximum, your approved limit and amounts set aside for requests that are still running or need checking. These are not Google’s bill. Text submitted for narration is sent to Google Cloud. A draft stores file names, locations, sizes and checksums used to detect changes, not the text itself. Imported library documents and saved narration copies do contain text on your computer. Do not include private text, account credentials or your personal profile when sharing the app. Google Cloud charges are separate from Cosmic Transcriber’s OpenAI API charges.

Use the tools together: Cosmic Transcriber turns a recording into text. Check the transcript, then bring reviewed text into CloudScribe. The MP3 is synthetic narration, not the original recording or a reproduction of its speaker's voice. Narration is an optional extra: the AtR prompts and translation workflow do not require either app.

This CloudScribe section and its four demonstration screenshots describe version 1.0.8. The screenshots use example text to show the interface; they do not show a completed Google voice comparison. The software and interface checks described here do not establish audio quality, screen-reader usability or behavior at every display scale. Before sharing an MP3, listen for correct names, pronunciation and complete text.

Back to the two-tool overview

Cosmic Transcriber v1.0.29

Cosmic Transcriber is Soh’s reviewed Windows 10/11 app for long recorded lectures, interviews, podcasts, Dharma talks, folders, and multi-part recordings. It supports resumable batch transcription, TXT/Markdown output, and two complementary OpenAI model modes.

Download the compiled Windows app

Choose the model by purpose

  • gpt-transcribe (default): the newer high-accuracy general model. Use it as the controlling text when exact wording, specialist terminology, multilingual speech, and negations matter. It supports language hints, literal keywords, and recording context, but does not add speaker labels in the app’s current file workflow.
  • gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize: the older specialised speaker-labelled model. It identifies speaker turns and can include timestamps, but Cosmic Transcriber does not send prompt/context or structured keyword hints in this mode. Speaker letters may reset between independently processed Parts.
Soh’s recommended two-pass method: transcribe the same recording once with gpt-transcribe for the most reliable wording and once with gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize for speaker structure. Upload both outputs to ChatGPT; tell it to keep the first transcript as the wording authority and use the second only for speaker labels, timestamps, and turn boundaries. Ask it to mark uncertain alignments instead of guessing.
I am providing two transcripts of the same recording. Treat the gpt-transcribe output as controlling for exact wording, names, technical terms, negations, repetitions, and sentence content. Use the gpt-4o-transcribe-diarize output primarily for speaker labels, timestamps, and turn boundaries. Do not invent speech or speaker identities. Mark uncertain alignment instead of guessing.

Get an OpenAI API key

  1. Sign in to the OpenAI API key page and create a new secret key.
  2. Set up API billing in the OpenAI Platform billing page. API usage is billed separately from a ChatGPT subscription.
  3. Copy the key once and keep it private. Do not post it, place it in public files, or share it with other people.

Quick use

  1. Download and extract the ZIP, then start Cosmic Transcriber normally rather than as administrator.
  2. Enter the API key for the session, load it from OPENAI_API_KEY, or optionally save it for the current Windows user using Windows DPAPI.
  3. Add supported audio/video files or folders, choose the model and output options, then start transcription. Compatible completed chunks can resume from checkpoints.

Windows-only, internet-dependent completed-file transcription with local media preparation. It is not a live microphone recorder or audio editor. Speaker-labelled output is available only in diarization mode. Current model availability and pricing can change; check OpenAI’s current API pricing.

The "Subtle Sensation" Trap in Self-Inquiry (And Why AI Gets It Wrong)

By

A reader’s question (paraphrased)

A reader writes to share a recurring experience during self-inquiry. They recall a retreat where a teacher confirmed that the “I am” sense could be located as a “subtle sensation” within. The reader has been wrestling with this instruction for a long time; as they investigate, the experience deepens into “a sensation and something else that isn't something,” but they often feel a stab of fear and reflexively pull back into distraction just as they seem close to penetrating it.

Seeking clarity, the reader consulted an AI chatbot (Grok) about this “subtle sensation” that arises when asking “Who am I?”. The AI identified it as “knowingness,” “bare awareness,” or “mind’s luminosity” (citing Buddhist terms like rigpa or citta-pabhā), but described it as the final subtle object or “veil” of ignorance before non-dual recognition. The reader found this explanation helpful in understanding their fear, assuming this sensation is the final barrier. The reader asks for my view on this “subtle sensation” and the AI’s interpretation that it is the mind’s luminous quality appearing as an object.


Soh's Reply:

I am an AI enthusiast, but sad to say, LLMs are misleading for your question. I tried asking your question to ChatGPT and Gemini, both gave very disappointing responses. So it's not only Grok that is disappointing, although I think Grok's answer seems worse than the other two.

The first sense of self you initially identify (the "first impression is of a very subtle sensation"), that is not the I AM or Witness or Luminous Mind realization. It is almost always.. a coarse sense of self (or what Ramana calls the I-thought), and when you investigate that, it seems to appear somewhere either in the head, or the chest, etc, a subtle reference point that you identify as yourself somewhere inside your body (and you may not even have a very clear idea of 'where' initially until you examine further).

That is not who you truly are and is not the Self that is realized through self-enquiry. So you have to push the inquiry further, because that sense of self located somewhere is still an object of awareness which comes and goes, and is not who you are (so it is negated in self-enquiry as neti neti -- not this, not that), so who are you? Who or what is aware of that?

Do watch this video by Dr. Greg Goode, it will clarify things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYjI6gh9RxE

And also my article on self-enquiry should clarify things as well: https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2024/05/self-enquiry-neti-neti-and-process-of.html

You have to be patient, it took me 2 years of inquiry to reach self-realization with many glimpses prior that.

1. The True 'I AM' Realization

The true I AM realization is not referring to that vague sense of an individualized being somewhere in the body, but rather refers to a non-dual realization of all-pervasive Presence. But this I AM realization (Thusness Stages 1 and 2: https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2007/03/thusnesss-six-stages-of-experience.html) is not to be mistaken as the realization of non-dual or anatman (no-self), which are Thusness Stages 4 and 5.

Sim Pern Chong, who went through similar insights, wrote a few years ago:

"Just my opinion... For my case, the first time i experienced a definitive I AM presence, there was zero thought. just a borderless, all pervading presence. In fact, there was no thinking or looking out for whether this is I AM or not. There was no conceptual activity. It was interpreted as 'I AM' only after that experience. To me, I AM experience is actually a glimpse of the way reality is.. but it is quickly re-interpreted. The attribute of 'borderlessness' is experienced. but other 'attributes such as 'no subject-object', 'transparent luminosity, emptiness are not understood yet. My take, is that when 'I AM' is experienced, you will be doubtless that it is the experience."

John Tan also said:

"John Tan: We call it the presence or we call it, um, we call it the presence. (Speaker: is it the I AM?) I AM is actually different. It's also presence. It's also presence. I AM, depending on... You see the definition of I AM also not. So, uh. Not really the same for some people, like Geovani? He actually wrote to me saying that his I AM is like localized one in the head. So it's very individual. But that is not the I AM that we are talking about. The I AM is actually a very uh, like for example, I think, uh. Long Chen (Sim Pern Chong) actually went through. It's actually all encompassing. It's actually what we call a non-dual experience. It's actually a very, um. There's no thoughts. It's just a pure sense of existence. And it can be a very powerful. It is indeed a very powerful experience. So when, let's say when you are. When you're very young. Especially when you are ...my age. When you first experience I AM, it is very different. It's a very different experience. We never experienced that before. So, um, I don't know whether it can be even considered as an experience. Um, because there is no thoughts. It's just Presence. But this presence is very quickly. It's very quickly. yeah. It's really quickly. Um. Misinterpreted due to our karmic tendency to of understanding something in a dualistic and in a in a very concrete manner. So very when we experience the we have the experience, the interpretation is very different. And that the, the, the wrong way of interpretation actually create a very dualistic experience." - Excerpt from AtR (Awakening to Reality) Meeting, March 2021

It is this very all-pervasive Presence that is then mistaken as the ultimate background, the ground of being for all phenomena to pop in and out while itself being unchanged and unaffected. Elaborated in: https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2007/03/mistaken-reality-of-amness.html

2. The Direct Path: Don't Downplay the 'I'

It is important not to mistaken this 'neti neti' process that is part and parcel of self-enquiry with the Buddhist Anatman teaching. They are two different things. In Neti Neti and Self-Enquiry, the purpose is directed to realizing what Presence-Awareness is, what your Self is, what the Source is. You cannot downplay the Self. You can put aside Buddhist No-Self or contemplation on impermanence or no-self aside until later on, if inquiry and direct path is your approach.

As John Tan said (Posts by Thusness/PasserBy in 2009 DhO 1.0):

“Hi Gary,

It appears that there are two groups of practitioners in this forum, one adopting the gradual approach and the other, the direct path. I am quite new here so I may be wrong.

My take is that you are adopting a gradual approach yet you are experiencing something very significant in the direct path, that is, the ‘Watcher’. As what Kenneth said, “You're onto something very big here, Gary. This practice will set you free.” But what Kenneth said would require you to be awaken to this ‘I’. It requires you to have the ‘eureka!’ sort of realization. Awaken to this ‘I’, the path of spirituality becomes clear; it is simply the unfolding of this ‘I’.

On the other hand, what that is described by Yabaxoule is a gradual approach and therefore there is downplaying of the ‘I AM’. You have to gauge your own conditions, if you choose the direct path, you cannot downplay this ‘I’; contrary, you must fully and completely experience the whole of ‘YOU’ as ‘Existence’. Emptiness nature of our pristine nature will step in for the direct path practitioners when they come face to face to the ‘traceless’, ‘centerless’ and ‘effortless’ nature of non-dual awareness.

Perhaps a little on where the two approaches meet will be of help to you.

Awakening to the ‘Watcher’ will at the same time ‘open’ the ‘eye of immediacy’; that is, it is the capacity to immediately penetrate discursive thoughts and sense, feel, perceive without intermediary the perceived. It is a kind of direct knowing. You must be deeply aware of this “direct without intermediary” sort of perception -- too direct to have subject-object gap, too short to have time, too simple to have thoughts. It is the ‘eye’ that can see the whole of ‘sound’ by being ‘sound’. It is the same ‘eye’ that is required when doing vipassana, that is, being ‘bare’. Be it non-dual or vipassana, both require the opening of this 'eye of immediacy'”

3. The Meaning of Anatman (No-Self) vs. Presence

Once the "I AM" is realized, one may eventually breakthrough to Anatman (No-Self). It is crucial to understand that Anatman does not mean the denial or non-existence of Awareness or Luminosity. Insight into anatman removes the "view of inherentness", and the "dualistic view" of a background "subject" separate from the "object.", so that one realizes the true face of awareness as this seamless activity that fills the entire universe, vivid and empty.

I will not elaborate on this part as you can read up the details in https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2007/03/thusnesss-six-stages-of-experience.html and https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2017/11/anatta-and-pure-presence.html

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