Category: Let's talk
I read something which I found to be interesting, and which I believe to be perfect for my first post. Whether you agree or not, I only ask for you to keep an open mind, and I invite you to give your take on this. I hope to start some interesting discussion, to say the least, but perhaps this might touch someone's life and start them on the path of enlightenment (as this realization did for me). In whatever you choose to do with these ideas, be well, and live in abundant possabilitty..excerpt from Len’s Chetkin:Instead of looking at God as a deity in charge of everything going on in the physical and having it stop there . . . Instead of viewing God as a standoffishpower who threatens to wield power at the slightest misstep . . . Instead of thinking of God as a separate entity who resides somewhere outside of us,reigning over the universe with an iron fist and a loving heart . . . Think of God as an integral part of our everyday living. The deity of which we arepart and parcel. The mother/father spirit whose totality is the sum total of all souls everywhere, who can be called on at any given moment to aid anyindividual cause, and whose love is infinite and is never withheld, no matter what the circumstances, because it is our birthright, being divine, to callupon the infinite gatherings of love and once feeling love’s existence, be immersed in it. It’s like not seeing the forest for the trees. We are the trees.We are the forest. We are Divine. We are God.I am infinite being.
Firstly this topic should have been put under religion .
You should disregard all that rubbish you just posted because I am god. and remember that according to the superior race on this planet that there is only one god and Mohamed is my profftt.
Mr Lordi!
well all goodness!
Blood Red SandMan!!
Monsters at their ve'r'r'ryyy finest..
Rock rock hallelujah rock..rock Rock Hallelujah Rock..
Rock Rock HALLELUJAH ROCK!!!!
Rock On babes Rock on'n'n'n'n'n
Connie ~ Grace
Music and Videos: In appprox center of web place, there is a Click-click area and also a pull down with Musical Clips (Hard Rock Hallelujah, Devil is a loser, Would you love a MonsterMan, BloodRedSandMan)
http://www.lordi.fi/main.site?action=siteupdate/view&id=40
MainPage:
http://www.lordi.fi/main.site?action=app/gallery/random&dir_id=7
if it wason't for god, we wouldn't be where we are today.
and one day, he will come back to earth and stop the wars and all the nasty things destroying our world.
if it wason't for adam and eve, we would live forever
Sorry for posting in the wrong place here; I wasn't aware that it mattered... I simply believe that we are all responsible for creating our realitty, and hence in that sense we are "gods" of our own worlds. I cannot believe in a god that would judge us on whether we're "good" or "bad" and punnish us accordingly. Honestly, why would god care if we lived a "good" or "bad" life? Good and bad are concepts created by us humans, and as such I don't believe that god would take our petty concerns into account. Furthermore, I don't believe that god would want to punnish us, or tell us that we have lived our lives the wrong way. A being coming from such a perspective to me seems to be vindictive; that individual sees something wrong with a situation, and wants to take that judgement out on whoever/whatever has done that "wrong" thing. Case and point: who cares if I posted this in the "wrong" place if my message still gets through? And who would I, or anyone for that matter, be to say that the teachings in the bible are wrong? I believe that the bible contains a lot of wisdom for those who seek it. It is man's corruption of the true word of god which I disagree with. I believe that there is only one message; that message is love. Take it or leave it, it's up to you, but I love you anyway... Even if you may be misguided. Because it's your life, and you will choose whatever path takes you where you want to go. Be well.
umm, ok, the point of this topic was? where're all the atheists? *evil grin*.
I believe that it is best to say that we may not know, rather to presume that we do. I don't believe in the traditional God, as most people would define it, but I don't reject that as a posible answer. I think that atheism is an easy answer; it dismisses and rejects things which the atheist doesn't agree with, and doesn't even question the validity of this belief. Is it any wonder why most atheists are angry and bitter most of the time (all you atheists out there please argue this point and proove me right). I think that most people have seen the Matrix, wherein everyone is asleep and being fed a falce world for the good of the machines which run it. So too are most people in the "real" world. People are programmed; we are programmed by the media; we are programmed by what our friends tell us we should believe; we are programmed by religion; we are told what to believe for someone else's proffet, and we are unaware that this is even happening. For some of us we were programmed by our parents' to believe certain things, when we were too little to know any better. At least I know this to be true for myself. However I am a responsible and mature adult now, hence I choose to start writing my own programming, and I have decided that it is my mission while I am here to teach others to do the same. This may not make sense to you, whoever you are, but it does to me and this is good enough. If it does, however, please take my hand and join me on this spectacular adventure. C'mon, try it; it'll be fun, I promise.
Bass, can you please explain something to me: what exactly do you believe? Are you trying to start your own religion or what? Why do you question the nature of god? Is the supernatural breaking through to your conscience? Please clarify, I'm interested in what you have to say.
I believe that everything is made of the same energy; our boddies, the world we live in, our thoughts, everything. I believe that there is a life force, and that we are manifestations of this force. We all create our own internal maps of reality and, in a way, we create what we perceive to be the universe. For example, although we may be in the same room having a conversation, and while we might be experiencing almost the same thing, we would both individually experience our own version of what occured. Everything that occurs in our lives, the good as well as the bad, are a result of our own actions and our choices in how we created those things for ourselves. Most people are unaware of how they create reality, and so they can't understand why their lives are so bad or whatever (my own experience). But once we expand our awareness of the world outside of us as well as the world within, we can become aware of how we create this reality, and we can take a more active role in creating literally whatever we choose. If I want a million dollars, or world piece, or whatever, I can do that; the only imposible thing to me which prevents me from accomplishing this right now is my mind. Whatever one believes is true for that person, therefore if you believe you are smart/stupid beautiful/unatractive independent/dependent it will become true for you. I'm not trying to preach religion here, but rather offer up a path to freedom. And this is a bit scattered; I am still learning, and as such my ideas are kinda all over the place. I appreciate your questioning, though, because it causes me to think in a different way and in turn causes me to learn more.
It sounds to me like you're attempting to do something that only a machine is capable of doing. No human being can be so objective to the scheme of things that happen within our system, in this world, to the point of erasing the learning or "programming," as you've put it, that is in the thinking mind. I can choose what to learn from the moment I become a responsible adult even while the world is being made to twirl and twist by old or new ideas; and besides, there's nothing new under the sun. Perhaps all these things you're learning are new to you but they're not to me, nor to any other thinking person familiar with the nature of thoughts. I think all human beings are essentially the same. I have a further question, are you a humanist, or an existentialist?
I am an agnostic. I think that's all I'll say on the subject. I like your ideas in theory, but I'm not sure I'd be willing to say I agree with them as anything more than that. And, I also like the way you express yourself. You're an interesting person. "You" meaning the creator of this board.
And I have a question, which I could most likely Google or dictionary and find out for myself, but anyway. Since Raskolnikov brought it up: What exactly is the definition of humanism? I think I have a basic understanding of existentialism, although I could be all mixed up about that as well, but I'm not sure about humanism.
Anyway, cheers to you for trying to figure things out as opposed to just dismissing the entire thing as bullshit. But I do feel I should mention that I know several atheists who are just as happy and well-adjusted as can be. I do know two who are bitter and angry beyond belief, but I think that's just their personalities.
I'm majoring in psychology because I'm interested in helping people to understand the world in which they live and why they have created it as they have so that they may create whatever they want. I know that this sounds kind of airy-fairy, but I need to use general terms because it is difficult to articulate exactly what my purpose is (especially since one persons goals may be vastly different from another's). I encorporate many different ideas in my repituar when helping people; I view it as if I have many tools in my toolbox that I can use, and I'm always looking for newer and better tools. Tools like behavioral/cognitive psychology, neural linguistic programming, philosophy and the like, are but a few. Raskolnikov, you make several interesting assertions in one of your posts: "you're attempting to do something that only a machine is capable of doing"; "No human being can be so objective to the scheme of things"; "there's nothing new under the sun"; "these things you're learning are new to you but they're not to me, nor to any other thinking person". Please correct me if I misquoted you, as I'm only doing so that I may understand where your coming from and I hope that I'm getting the gist of what you were saying. When you say that something may be new to me, but not to those familiar with the nature of thoughts, followed by there's nothing new under the son, I have a hard time understanding what you mean. Just because something isn't new to one person, doesn't mean that it may not be new for another. For example, a baby will be content to examine it's own boddy and suck it's own toes, simply because it is a novel experience and something totally new; this might seem rediculous to some people, as how can our own boddies be "new" to us, but there it is. I also didn't mean to say that all atheists are angry, however I have noticed that many atheists seem to come from a position of frustration. I know that I rejected the posability of their being a god, I was resistant to the idea because I was frustrated with a god who would let so much pain and missery run wild in the world (my own life at the time, perhaps). However just because something doesn't seem possible, as most traditional view(s) of god seem to me to be, does this mean that it has to be impossible? We all want our worlds to be the way we see them; if I were to talk about these things with certain religious people I know I would be rideculed and told I am going to hell (what is that). While those people truly believe that I might go to hell, I and others do not believe in such a place, but there is no way to tell which one of us is right. In fact, I would say that for us as individuals, perhaps we're both right... I don't know, and I don't presume to, hence I decided to write in here and see what others think. I really appreciate the responses, as it means that people are at least willing to think about these ideas and not reject them right away. And if you haven't posted yet, I invite you to do so. Thanks, and be well.
I thought this was supposed to be a discussion about who is god. But I'll leave the unknowable character and nature of god out of this discussion. I don't know if there is such a being and I'm not going to argue with anybody about this.
Bass: What I meant to say is exactly what you explained in your example of the baby. But I think that ideas; philosophies, theories, theologies, whatever is or has been in the human mind, whatever has come out of the human mind, all of these things are all a part of life and always have been. New words may be added onto them, old words may be taken away from them, but the result is always the same. No idea can be made totally out of nothing; it will always have a piece of this or that other idea. I think that's just the way human beings from one generation influence another generation.
You've compared the human experience of learning to a movie which you say speaks of human beings "being fed a false world for the good of the machines which run it" (and Descarte's "brain-in-a-vat" theory is nothing new, as I'm sure you already know). Then you say that you're going to write your own "programming," wich I've understood as a choice you've made to try to erase what you've been taught and, in effect, "teach others to do the same." What I understand from what you've said is that you intend to somehow assume the role of the machines, and when I say machines, I mean the ones you've made out to be the "media," "friends," "religion," and "parents." You're wanting to do this in order to create your own reality and to be the god of this reality (or world) you create. Perhaps it would be fine to do this for yourself and for your own benefit, but you've said that it's your mission to teach others to do the same. How can you be so sure that you'd be teaching others to turn from something that is false? Please prove to me that all the human learning that has gone on for thousands of years is false?
Let me just tell you right here that it really alarms me that you would say such a thing. I assume you must be joking. If anyone is capable of self-programming, and I'm going to speculate with you here for a moment, then what's to become of the "programming" that has already been written in the minds of human beings? This is an impossibility. Even if it were true that we were being programmed by machines, how would we program ourselves if we were to go against all things we've been tauht? We'd need a new language, each human being would need to become a new life form completely estranged from the human race as we know it. lol
Writing your own program or creating your own reality is an idea that's taught by religion; I can think of christianity, for example, which teaches believers to conform no longer to the patterns of this world. But it sounds to me like you're trying to start your own religion or something. Sorry, it doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe you can explain further if you think I've misunderstood you, I'll be interested to hear it.
I believe that we will evolve to a higher level and, as you say, something totally out of this world quite literally. The ideas we have had to come from somewhere, way back when when the first human had the thought "I am" is a perfect example, and that somewhere for lack of a better term is god; I choose to call it infinite being, because it is everything, and it is just there. When the big bang happened, the explosion had to come from somewhere (something had to explode, right), which to me would indicate that the big bang was not the start of everything. Perhaps the start of everything as we know it, or this universe, but not the start... I would invite you to check out "What the Bleep Do We Know" which is a fascinating documentary on how we create reality, and it probably explains a lot better and in a lot more detail than I do. I believe that most people act like machines, operating on their internal and unconscious programming without being aware of it, and that once we become aware of the unconscious motivations for why we all do things we can choose which programs to keep and which to get rid of (say, for example, getting rid of the fear of heights). All psychologies are aimed at the same goal, it would seem to me, and that goal is to make us more aware of the world in which we live (and how we create it). I don't know about god, or whether we can debate it because it's hard to debate something which both of us are not certain of, but we can look at logic. You said that every idea has to come from something, although it may be presented differently, so then by this logic where did the first idea ever (I am) come from? At some point "where" seaces to have rellivence, but let's play around with it. And I think that by this process, rather than being estranged from the rest of the human race, we will instead find that we are in fact more intune with it. We are all one, and as we become more and more aware of this oneness, we will feel less and less separation. I know that for me I've felt much separation from others through my life; it actually took a lot of courage for me to start this post, but I'm glad I did. But I'm finding that nowadays things are going more and more the way I would prefer they to be, and I would only hope that I am able to teach someone where I was that something totally new is possible. Don't forget about things that work for you and surve you, however get rid of things which surve no purpose or which hold you back. The fear of heights for example would not surve someone who wants to be a pilot and, if that person is determained enough, I would want them to get rid of that irrational fear so that they could accomplish their goal; if this isn't their goal, or they are content to have this fear, then I would say that there is no need to get rid of it. I personally choose to get rid of all things which don't surve me, but then again that's my choice. This is why I appreciate you questioning me; it helps me to encounter potential faults in my logic, or aspects which do not surve my goal, hence I can get rid of those things and replace them with things which work (my revised dictations). OK, enough rambling for me... :-) Be well.
uh right. someone put this in religion please?
god was over last night, he it gave me a blowjob, and said conveniently enough..."oh god"
finally. I'm an athest, and thought I'd get a good laugh at this. and I was right!
Why are you so angry? Why does it matter where this is posted? I don't believe in God either, however I don't harbor angor at those who choose to. I started this topic with the title "who is god" because I thought it fit; but it could be a discussion about anything, depending on who contributes and what he/she chooses to contribute. What were you trying to contribute by saying that god gave you a blowjob, or by telling us to move this to another forum? Who cares, for God's sake! If you have nothing to add, please post in a topic which more suits your tastes. I mean, don't you have anything better to do than try to make fun of something which you don't understand?
who says there's anything to understand about god. he/she/it might exist. we have no truthfuly good reasons to believe in he/she/it. and this is in truth a religious board, so it should go in religion topics. that's why it's there.
Bass: I want to ask you a rhetorical question. Don't you think that if you go by the timeline that the theory of evolution gives us, that then it must be impossible to achieve this goal of creating our own reality or worlds within our own lifetime? Or on which timeline should the efforts of a person intending to create his own reality be based? Let me explain why I ask you this. I hope it makes sense:
the way you explain the removal of emotions such as your example of fear of heights souns so impractical to me because, the way I understand emotions, they aren't something a person can choose to be in control of; human beings are emotional, sensual, and open to all kinds of stimulation. don't misunderstand me, I agree with the effort of overcoming one's own "irrational" fears, whatever they might be, but it's impractical and unnecessary to silence fear altogether. You say that you have chosen to get rid of whatever doesn't serve you but you can't possibly mean that you're intending to get rid of it altogether; and would you even be capable of doing such a thing?
I don't know, Bass, it's tricky thinking this way; we can get into an endless series of debates. I think it's possible though, to get rid of things we don't need to know or things that would hinder us; I mean, it's taken thousands or millions of years for the human race to accumulate what it currently has in its "knowledge bank," but it's not like you or I as individuals contain the entirety of this "bank" within our minds, and so we wouldn't have to rid ourselves of each piece of knowledge. But even yet, how would we know which fact or piece of information is of no use to us? Would a fact or piece of information be completely of no use to us? Emotions are learned; the fear of death is probably the last emotion we'll have to deal with but we're likely to find it useful for survival while we're living.
But I ask you again: how practical and necessary is it? Are we supposed to take on life naturally and all the while watch for certain events, certain stimuli that will arouse a further emotion that we must get rid of? It just doesn't sound very practical and to a point it can seem like a waste of time; why not just devote ourselves to a simple life and not worry about being hindered or about being part of a whole or of belonging to the human race? I don't want to discourage you in what you've chosen to do, I'm just asking questions...
Hi Bass. Once again we have a really interesting topic to sink our teeth into.
However, I think you are putting the cart before the horse, so to speak. To ask "who is God" presupposes that God exists. Then you give us some beliefs you've gleaned from Chetkin (is that a person? I'm not familiar with him.) "Think of God as an integral part of our
everyday living. The deity of which we are part and parcel. The mother/father spirit whose totality is the sum total of all souls everywhere, who can be
called on at any given moment to aid anyindividual cause, and whose love is infinite and is never withheld, no matter what the circumstances, because it
is our birthright, being divine, to call upon the infinite gatherings of love and once feeling love’s existence, be immersed in it. It’s like not seeing
the forest for the trees. We are the trees.We are the forest. We are Divine. We are God.I am infinite being."
As I read what you've said, it reminds me of what Michael Valentin Smith says in Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange land." He says "I am God. We are God. Thou art God." If you haven't read this book, I would like to suggest it to you. It became the basis for the philosophy of many hippies in the sixties; yours truly being one. However, Michael Smith went on to speculate that "everything" was God: including grass, rocks, even the air we breathe. Is this what you believe? Where does Goddom stop? If everything is God then what's the point of being God?
I agree with Raskolnikov in post 9 when he says, "what exactly do you believe? Are you trying to start your own religion or what? Why do you question the nature
of god? Is the supernatural breaking through to your conscience? Please clarify, I'm interested in what you have to say."
Unlike Raskolnikov, I do not question why you question the nature of God. As Socrates said "the unexamined life is not worth living" and to know the nature of God--if he exists--is the highest form of examination we can do.
You respond "I believe that everything is made of the same energy; our boddies, the world we live in, our thoughts, everything. I believe that there is a life force,
and that we are manifestations of this force."
My question to you is "why do you believe this?" is it because it sounds nice? Is it because you have done extincive scientific or philosophical studies that drew you to this conclusion? or, is it, as I believe to be true, you wish it were so.
For what it's worth, my beliefs in God change from day to day, which means I don't know. Some days I believe in a very personal God who responds to me in a way he knows I will understandd, and to others in a totally different way which they will understand. At other times, I believe that God is the creator of science and it's rules: if you jump off of a tall building you will fall because of his law of gravity. If a doctor performs an operation in such and such a way, a miracle will occur and another being will live longer.
Thanks for bringing this topic up.
Bob
When I say get rid of things which don't serve us, I'm talking about beliefs, ways of acting, and the like. I'm not saying get rid of emotions; in fact, feel emotions to the fullest. However I say get rid of the automatic responce to them, and don't let this autopilot run things. For example we are willing to be terrified at a movie or while on a theme park ride, because we know what will happen. In another situation, this same emotion might evoke a totally different responce; getting held up at gunpoint, in my oppinion, isn't nearly as fun as a roller coaster. I'm not saying that god exists, so much as I'm saying that something exists. Something exists outside of our awareness, or are realm of reality, or our perception, or whatever. When Raskolnikov asked if the supernatural was breaking through to my consciousness, I feel that he represented what I'm trying to say. To me consciousness and awareness are one and the same, and that we can expand our consciousness/awareness to become aware of many things including the supernatural. Another way to look at it is perhaps this infinite being is everything that exists outside of our universe, the nothingness, or everything which is not... Makes a lot of sense, right? :-) I'm not quite sure what to believe about this being, but I feel that something else is out there, and that I'm becoming more and more aware of it each day. I simply can't understand why we have the laws of physics, etc etc, if there was just nothing... Again, though, nothing and something is really two sides of the same coin; at some point it seases to matter, because language in its duelistic form does not have the capacity to explain it. We need to go beyond language to explain it, however I am not aware of such a way. Does this mean that a way doesn't exist, or instead that perhaps it is simply outside of our awareness?
That's a good question and I think it's obvious that it's been asked
for thousands of years. There are the christians who believe in a
self-revealed god, there are those who aim for nirvana and those
who see nature as god. And I also know that the bible says
humankind through its wisdom cannot know god, the natural man
cannot understand the things of god. I remember a few months ago
an article came out that said we can experience the supernatural
by popping a pill. I think it was some sort of mushroom used by the
Aztecs or some other people. The effect it had on those who took
this pill was similar to those who didn't use the pill; both groups
had the same religious experience.
But it's true though, Bass; there seems to be something present
that is currently beyond the capacity of human comprehension. I
always wonder what the state was inside the first thinking brain;
was it full of atheistic thoughts, or was it full of theistic thoughts? I always wonder what the state of the world was before there was ever a controversy surrounding god. I mean, just imagine if we had
a source, some sort of manuscript that could speak to us out of
that prehistoric period; what would it tell? It would probably say
something like this: "My name is Adam and I believe in god. I and
others have always believed this and our belief has never been
contradicted. But there is a group of strangers beginning to spread
false teachings about the supernatural and the world is being
plunged into a controversy. This has never happened before."
But no such source exists for either side. Has there always been a
controversy surrounding the supernatural? It seems like this
controversy is meant to set us apart from all other animals or
something. It seems like these two (theism and atheism) have from
the beginning of time been engaged in a battle to win the minds of
human beings. I mean, none of us was there to witness how or
when or why the supernatural broke into the consciousness of
human beings. Did it all begin when some wretched soul in a
moment of deep misery cried out for comfort from a divine being?
This would probably tell us that god was a human invention. Or did
it happen in the same way the bible tells it? Who knows?
But there's nothing, absolutely nothing. All we have is, as you say,
our limited human language; ancient writings, myths and legends,
disputed events, etc. As far as we know, history is like a transparent jar marked by the finger prints of atheism and theism. It's beyond us!
I believe that it may perhaps be beyond us now, however some day I believe that I will understand (as others do) what the answer is. I think that this answer will be a unique one; somehow it will be the ultimate and coorrect answer, however this answer will be unique to the individual. I believe that we have the power to evolve individualli, in our own lifetimes, not just as a society. I invite you to check out http://www.infinitebeing.com, and perhaps read "The shift: the revolution in human consciousness" by Owen Waters. I think that the purpose isn't really to debate whether or not god exists, but rather to throw ideas around and see if we can increase our understanding. I know that I've learned a lot from you and others who have posted here, and I only hope that others have as well. I'm not sure if I believe that we can visit any point in time and space once our consciousness reaches a certain point, but who knows; according to Owen Waters, this is possible, but then again... PS: has anyone seen "What the Bleep Do We Know"; it fits perfectly. Be well.
I have been thinking along the same lines as you Base for a couple of years now, but I haven't thought so deeply about things. What you say about reactions is true. We are in control of our minds and so are able to decide for ourselves how to react to things, what to fear, etc. On matters which no undoubtable evidence has been presented on, it is best not to assume. I.E whether god exists, if heaven or hell exist. I think Evolution and the theories of each religion do not provide conclusive answers to several questions, and we may never know what happened right at the beginning of time. I don't understand why people are so keen to know who the universe began. I don't believe that there is anything to gain from the establishment of an answer to that question. The media, religion, and people influence the minds of each individual, and therefore, nobody can say all of their thoughts are uninfluenced by anything, but for a thought to be influenced by something isn't a bad thing, if the influence is a stimulating one. I think that eventually Base, you should fully develop your idea, and create a book which features this idea, release it and publicise it. Your thinking has the potential to totally transform the thinking of others, and if your mission is to set each mind free, then by making your thoughts known to the world you will have a good chance of achieving this. Of course, it may not be wise to wait until you have concluded your thinking on the matter, as the mind never stops thinking, so your thoughts may constantly develop.
There ya go, Bass; some good words of advice from senior. I might just consider them for myself. And yes, I agree with you, we're all in search for answers and for a bigger horizon full of hope. That's something we all can take comfort in; we can use our minds to examine the things around us and within us. As long as we do this, we know we're alive and not brain dead. If there is a divine being or if there is something out there we as human beings all need to discover in this lifetime, then hopefully we can find it out; hopefully it can become comprehensible to us as individuals.
I just like the thought that we are god, simply because it's inspiring; it's inspiring to me to know that, when I feel that things are the darkest, that I alone have the power to change things. This is of course how I choose to look at it, and because it surves me quite well I don't see a problem with it. I think that most people do not realize their true potentials, or believe that they are somehow limited (or handicapped) and that this somehow enhibits them from acheiving whatever they want. I find that a lot of people go through the day angry about something; whenever you talk to them, it's like "this sucks, that sucks, I don't like this, I hate that, I wish XYZ were different" or "this person is so stupid, that person is a jackass, their so annoying". This might work for them, and if so more power to them (although I don't find them very fun to be around). We have a choice as to what we do about the things which upset us in life: we can either get upset/angry/depressed/frustrated/whatever, and not have such a good time, or we can choose to not let those things bother us, and perhaps come up with a sollution which might improve the situation (or decide that it really doesn't matter all that much). Either way, we still have to put up with whatever it is that bugs us, so I personally choose to not let things bother me. This is most definately easier said than done, and trust me when I say that I am far from an expert at this kind of thing. However I've had some very dark moments in my life, and I feel that if I am able to find a way through to the other side then I (and others like me) am obligated to help others do the same. For some people, the darkness is all that they've ever known (I'm not talking about someone who is blind, although it's food for thought) and so they have no need to change; their happy talking about other people's faults and how they are so much better than those other "stupids"; they try to make everyone as miserable as they are; they talk about how god came over and gave them a blowjob and then go on to say how laughable the idea of god is (just kidding). But there is a way out, and the world is so much more beautiful than one could ever imagine. Once we get rid of the filters which distort our reality and start to adopt the witness perspective, everything falls into place. It's like we're actors in a Broadway musicle, only that it's our musicle and we are the main actor/producer and the world is our stage. And as this is our play, we alone can choose how it goes; it can be a tragedy, a drama, or (my favorite) a commedy. In however you run your play, I hope that it is fun and that it has a happy ending, but it's your play and you are the shining star. Be well.
Base, I'm trying to follow this, I really am, but I am basicly a rationalist, and require rational answers to questions.
When you say "Once we get rid of the filters which distort our reality and start to adopt the witness
perspective, everything falls into place."
What is the witness perspective?
You never answered the question I ask in an earlier post, did you ever read "Stranger in a strange land"? Though it's fiction, I think it would provide you perspective on the things of which you speak.
Bob
Allow me to explain this witnessing idea a bit more. Think of it as if you were playing Hamlet in a play. Although most of the people die at the end, and although if this were actually you going through these things it wouldn't feel so great (to put it lightly), however the you and the other people in the cast leave the play just fine (nobody dies, nobody is upset or sad, etc). This is how I believe life to be. At some point, anything and everything which used to bother the enlightened person doesn't do so anymore. It's not like you wouldn't care about the suffering in the world etc, as some like myself plan to help out and do what we can to eliminate this suffering, but it doesn't really affect anything. I'm not to this point yet, so I don't mean to put this as "I get it and you don't" but indeed it's hard to put into language. When I say that all suffering is created by the mind, and that we may get rid of all of it by just witnessing, most people don't understand; or they understand it intilectually, but they don't really "get" it. I'm not all that smart, so I don't quite get it intelectually some of the time, and I have a long way to go on my journey before I attain this state of total peace of mind. But I'm just doing what I know how, which is to attempt to explain myself and learn from others, and this is all I can do. As for my irrational post, like I said I'm not the smartest person. Perhaps go back and read it, and tell me what you feel rom it. Is it making some sense on some level, or is it just a bunch of word salad with no coherence whatsoever? There are no rational answers when looking at this stuff, rather rationalizations which we create to attempt to explain our world. We all experience the "real" world in our own unique way, so it may be said that we all create our own inner worlds. However these worlds are not real, rather they are simply our maps which we've created to help us navigate through life. However some people experience suffering and the like because they identify very strongly with this map and, rather than recognizing that they are experiencing what they perceive to be real, they believe that it is real. It is like the map is not the teretory. We all know people who go through life, and we just get a sense from them that life sucks. However they are the ones who are responsible for how they've created their maps, and if their life sucks (although I feel sorry for them) they are the only ones who might change their maps to something more to their liking. Most of these maps were created by our environments when we were very young an impressionable (up until around age 7). We were told what to believe, what the world is like, what our place is in it, and so on. However most adults still are influenced to a large degree by the world around them; we are told what to believe by the media, we are told who we are (or who we should be) by advertizing, we are told what to think by the news or other sources. My Mom always watches the news, in her words just to see what's going on in the world, but all I see is another rape/murder/stabbing/robbery etc. I'm from Detroit, so these things happen quite often; one would think that after a while this would sease being news, but... It's all make-believe, you can't believe everything you see. I saw this news thing when I logged in today, talking about how someone would ignore another person and then a third-party would come in and pass messages back and forth. I mean, for god's sake. Don't people have anything better to do with their lives than sit around and attempt to talk to someone who obviously wants nothing to do with them? I mean, get a life. :-) However I choose to focus on other things, hence something which might bother someone else really has no affect on me. I can choose to get upset about how stupid I think it is, and go on a rant about these loosers or whatever, but it's honestly not worth my time. And with the news, if I were to watch the Detroit news every day to find out what's going on in the world around me, wouldn't that be a pretty depressing picture? Anyway, those are my thoughts. PS: I haven't read that book yet, but I will make a point to do so. Why is it important? It sounds as if it inspired you in some way, or at least it struck a chord, and I'm interested in what you have to say. Be well.
Bass: I don't mean to find fault with you, and in all honesty I think there's nothing wrong with what you're saying. But can't you think of another word to use other than "god"? It seems unnecessary to me that you use "god" to explain your role in creating your own reality and I think that perhaps the use of this word in your idea will only bring arguments and cause others to react negatively. When you use this word people are automatically going to think you're trying to start a religion or a cult (as I initially did) and they're going to be turned off. I know you think there's nothing wrong with seeing yourself as the god of your own reality, and I honestly don't find anything wrong with what you're trying to do (if it works for you, then I encourage you to go forward even though I can't assure you that it'll make you happy in the end), but can't you think of any other word to describe your role in this effort you're presently in of creating your own reality? The word "god" cannot be uttered without alerting people to the religious connotations that it carries. Or do you think it would change the meaningfulness of your idea to some degree if you used another word? You said you're not preaching religion to those of us whom you want to consider your idea and so I just thought that not making use of the word "god" could only benefit you in your mission.
I think that this is probably a really good idea. I'd just like to promote discussion, and I thought that by using god that people would more likely have an oppinion and post their views. There really is no name to what I'm saying, or way of thinking. I just like the term god because it implies that we can create whatever we want, however I think that this somehow makes people weird when I say "I am god" even though I believe that everyone is god... OK, I'm not gonna use the word. :-) Let us from now on use infinite being; I thought that this might sound a bit strange, but it's probably better than using *that word*. I intended for my oppinion to start a discussion and then for others to join in, but it seems as if I'm the only one to go off about this type of thing. I wonder if I might have made it a bit difficult because I keep saying "I am god" etc. To be honest I've never posted in one of these boards, and it takes a little getting used to. I've really enjoied hearing from you and everyone here, and I would hope that this discussion might continue with some new people? What does everyone think about being able to create whatever realitty you want? It seems like a big deal to me, but perhaps this is only so because I've just started to realize it... I've started to really get things going my way in my life, and for the first time I'm starting to realize that nothing can stop me from accomplishing m goals. It's an exciting feeling, and I suppose that I just want to have everyone share in it. I think that perhaps a lot of people look at others who have things work for them and call them lucky, or think that good things just happen to them. I know that, if I didn't think that others were more lucky than I was, I couldn't understand why some people had it so easy while I didn't. And now I want to share this with other people, however it's possible that nobody else has experienced this? I see a lot of the people around me continuing to not get the results they want, and instead of doing something about it they continue to do the same things (complain about it, etc) and expect things to change. This bothers me because they are creating what they are complaining about, and don't even realize it; I would think that there are a few people on here that are like this from time to time, as I know I am. I dunno; maybe I just want to see what others think.