Deep contemplations and still needing insight!

[Antimony]

My mind is rather muddled... as always-
well, anyway, what we create, what we mold ourselves into is going to persist in this world to a certain extent beyond the grave, whether it be the thoughts of a loved one, the lonely obituary in the newspaper, or that brilliant theorem that you spent your whole life working on. It'll stay around for a while, your life could easily be made into a battle to see how much impact you can make... positive impact hopefully. The problem with thinking about these things, is that if you stare it directly in the eye, it will overwhelm you. But if you just peek at it, just a little, it will draw you in. It's just like solving problems, if you take on something to big, you'll despair

And you are the kind of despair

Great, so if I do nothing else, I can have an obituary, unless I die lost and forgotten in some far off land, like Canada (only not really, more like Madagascar).

But what if it motivates one more to look it directly in the eye? What if you need that kind of intimidation? I think I scare people with the impacts I hope to make hahahahha I talk about the big things, the main ideas, etc, and they are like no way can you do that.

 

[Asterion]

And you are the kind of despair

Coincidently, it appears sooooo...

I love how that wove in there somehow

Great, so if I do nothing else, I can have an obituary, unless I die lost and forgotten in some far off land, like Canada (only not really, more like Madagascar).

lol, you'll still have a 'missing' notice... unless you're a hermit and you're in canada? It's highly likely that you'll be on someones mind, unless you live and die in solitude.

But what if it motivates one more to look it directly in the eye? What if you need that kind of intimidation? I think I scare people with the impacts I hope to make hahahahha I talk about the big things, the main ideas, etc, and they are like no way can you do that.

You must be crazy, what has the lord of the rings taught you? <-- there's another form of spirituality, lessons learned through the teachings of stories. That's what fables were afterall, stories that teach.

It's probably right to look at your goals in that way, just not the tasks required to achieve them... ahhh, don't look down, lest you be conquered by your fears... wow, what's with all of this tangenting

 

[Poki]

How do you do that? How interesting, though. What are your studies on?

Its all about control. If you had a partner with "real" crazy control he could take you to that state without you even having to learn about it He could create that anticipation and know how to keep it at that state. Know when to pull back, when to give that little bit of pushing. A mental state can be driven by physical means

 

[Gerbah]

I wish you did have time I always figured it gave people some reason to pursue the truth. I also think that some people use it to control other people, which pisses me off :steam:

That is probably true in a lot of cases. Everyone has different motivations with their religion. If you are not following your religion purely because you think it's true, e.g. you want to control others, you're afraid of change or whatever, then obviously your intention is not spiritually sincere or pure because you're looking for something else other than truth, or maybe you want truth but your desires are mixed or you put conditions on it, etc.

I don't think you should have to need anything though, whether religion or whatever, to pursue the truth. The truth is evident in itself, e.g. if you grew up in total isolation from any history or culture in the middle of a jungle, as a human being with a rational mind, you would still ask the same questions every human being has ever asked and observe and reflect and come to certain truths. It's natural.

That said, beyond a certain point I think a religion becomes necessary. But let me give my definition of religion – sorry but this will take me a while, I don't want to be boring with overly long posts but I can't say this short. So here is my view.

When you come to the point where you consciously want to take responsibility for your thinking and beliefs, I don't think religion is the first step. Because this is something from outside, to do with relating to what is not you. But you've got to deal with yourself first and foremost. I think the first step is really to take things to zero. What do I really know to be true? Not just probably or because my parents told me, etc. So you investigate and question and you will most likely in this process ask the big questions of where did I come from, what am I, right/wrong, etc.

I find that whether or not people seek a religion depends on what conclusions they come to at this point. Pretty much all people who would describe themselves as firmly spiritual and value spirituality accept that there is something beyond their own self that exists and upon which their own existence depends, and everything else existing also depends on that Thing for its existence (I mean really existentially, not just, I depend on water and food, etc.). So that Thing is outside of the chain of needy and dependent things.

If this is recognised, you then wonder about the nature of that Being. What is It? What's It like? And what is my relationship to It? It made me didn't It and doesn't the fact of my existence depend on It? So we have a relationship. I am not independent of it. So It is responsible for me. If It is responsible for me, It must be guiding me, as the rest of the universe is managed. Trees do their thing, animals do their thing, etc. So there must be a guidance from It for every aspect of my life. So then one would wonder, what is the correct guidance then? I see a lot of potential errors, what is the correct way? This “correct way”, i.e. the correct way for a human being to live that satisfies his/her essential human nature, in the sense as I describe above, is what I think religion is and why it is a necessary issue. Of course, you don't have to get into those questions. There a lot of people who for example are very concerned with spirituality but they think their own guidance they get personally is enough. Personally, I think that is not enough because it doesn't answer a lot of big issues, but that is my own view.

 

[Antimony]

Coincidently, it appears sooooo...

I love how that wove in there somehow

I love little coincidences!

lol, you'll still have a 'missing' notice... unless you're a hermit and you're in canada? It's highly likely that you'll be on someones mind, unless you live and die in solitude.

What if I work for like the CIA, and have all my records erase, and become someone who totally does not exist, and everyone's minds are erased and they know not of who I am? So ha!

You must be crazy

Just now figuring this out?

what has the lord of the rings taught you? <-- there's another form of spirituality, lessons learned through the teachings of stories. That's what fables were afterall, stories that teach.

HAHA yet another coincidence! I am reading The Two Towers, was lying on my bed looking at the some violin sheet music for The Lord of the Rings, and thinking of such!

*shifty eyes*

And LOTR has taught me a very important lesson: don't take the one ring.

It's probably right to look at your goals in that way, just not the tasks required to achieve them... ahhh, don't look down, lest you be conquered by your fears... wow, what's with all of this tangenting

Oh, I gotcha! Okay, of course I won't. I refuse to be conquered! NEVERRRR!!!!

And you tangent because you are an ENTP. Duh!

 

[Antimony]

That is probably true in a lot of cases. Everyone has different motivations with their religion. If you are not following your religion purely because you think it's true, e.g. you want to control others, you're afraid of change or whatever, then obviously your intention is not spiritually sincere or pure because you're looking for something else other than truth, or maybe you want truth but your desires are mixed or you put conditions on it, etc.

I don't think you should have to need anything though, whether religion or whatever, to pursue the truth. The truth is evident in itself, e.g. if you grew up in total isolation from any history or culture in the middle of a jungle, as a human being with a rational mind, you would still ask the same questions every human being has ever asked and observe and reflect and come to certain truths. It's natural.

That said, beyond a certain point I think a religion becomes necessary. But let me give my definition of religion – sorry but this will take me a while, I don't want to be boring with overly long posts but I can't say this short. So here is my view.

For a huge wall of text, that went by quickly. I agree with the process that one goes through for finding religion. It is all very...logical. That is something I have issues with figuring out.

1. There is an amazing super-being that created anything and everything and it is just beyond my grasp how it can surpass the boundaries of time and has just always existed.

2. Somehow everything evolved from nothing that is really a something when you think about it, and it is just beyond our grasp as to how such a thing could happen.

3. Something is just beyond our grasp period that we have no clue about.

4. /Insert another option here, as it sometimes changes/

I think every human (well, maybe not every human) has the inner desire to just know. Some people accept religions without question, that it has never been modified, it has not been manipulated IN ANY WAY AND THEY ARE RIGHTEOUS AND ALL MIGHTY and some people are kinda like

I am so torn between being created by a something and being created from a nothing.

Its all about control. If you had a partner with "real" crazy control he could take you to that state without you even having to learn about it He could create that anticipation and know how to keep it at that state. Know when to pull back, when to give that little bit of pushing. A mental state can be driven by physical means

Hahaha I felt a mind meltdown towards my ending statement to Gerbah, and that just made me smile

*and now gets to thinking*

 

[Gerbah]

For a huge wall of text, that went by quickly. I agree with the process that one goes through for finding religion. It is all very...logical. That is something I have issues with figuring out.

1. There is an amazing super-being that created anything and everything and it is just beyond my grasp how it can surpass the boundaries of time and has just always existed.

Well, consider light. Einstein discovered that the faster something moves and gets closer to the speed of light, which is the maximum speed, time slows down, right? I'm sure you know. So for light, which moves at the maximum speed, time is the minimum speed, i.e. no time. It is forever young. Things can only age in time. But the light you see that came from a star is the same age as it “was” when it reflected off the star, which could be dead by now. Light is already something that exists within the apparent reality and is dependent for its existence on the Essential Existence. So if something It created can be outside of time, even within time, It Itself can surely be independent of time also.

4. /Insert another option here, as it sometimes changes/

Yeah, sometimes you have to juggle with working hypotheses.

I think every human (well, maybe not every human) has the inner desire to just know. Some people accept religions without question, that it has never been modified, it has not been manipulated IN ANY WAY AND THEY ARE RIGHTEOUS AND ALL MIGHTY and some people are kinda like

Yes, that's annoying when they get uppity about it. Of course, every person is somehow convinced by the rightness of what they're doing or they wouldn't be doing it. At some point, you make a decision. But it is pointless to annoy people by trying to push them or tell them what to do, especially because spirituality and ideology is to do with your personal relationship to what created you, so it isn't anyone's business really to tell you what to do about it unless you want to share it or ask. Some people can get very aggressive with their missionising (is that a word?).

I am so torn between being created by a something and being created from a nothing.

But either way you seem to be sure that you are created? Don't the two come to the same thing? i.e. something created you and before that happened you were nothing, you didn't exist.

 

[Antimony]

Well, consider light. Einstein discovered that the faster something moves and gets closer to the speed of light, which is the maximum speed, time slows down, right? I'm sure you know. So for light, which moves at the maximum speed, time is the minimum speed, i.e. no time. It is forever young. Things can only age in time. But the light you see that came from a star is the same age as it “was” when it reflected off the star, which could be dead by now. Light is already something that exists within the apparent reality and is dependent for its existence on the Essential Existence. So if something It created can be outside of time, even within time, It Itself can surely be independent of time also.

*goes off to worship light*

Lol just kidding, but really, that is yet another good point!

*starts thinking about time*

Time is really interesting. Hmmmm, so if it is created outside of time, in fact is independent of time...then maybe that does explain how something could be regardless of time. Time is just a measurement, but one I am quite fond of using.

Yes, that's annoying when they get uppity about it. Of course, every person is somehow convinced by the rightness of what they're doing or they wouldn't be doing it.

I know they wouldn't. And yet, it is so annoying. I think it doesn't matter what a person's views are, really. Well, it sort of does (such as if they think we should be killed with giant meatballs). But really, when I figure all this out one day, I shall never shove it down someone's throat.

At some point, you make a decision. But it is pointless to annoy people by trying to push them or tell them what to do, especially because spirituality and ideology is to do with your personal relationship to what created you, so it isn't anyone's business really to tell you what to do about it unless you want to share it or ask. Some people can get very aggressive with their missionising (is that a word?).

IT IS NOW! *adds to dictionary on computer*

Anyways, yes, they can. So many wars are fought over what people believe. Whether it really is true or not, people have been fighting for centuries over IDEAS.

But either way you seem to be sure that you are created? Don't the two come to the same thing? i.e. something created you and before that happened you were nothing, you didn't exist.

Well...hmmmmm. Damn it! Another question! What if I created everything? Wouldn't that be interesting? Too bad I can't remember everything. Does anything even exist? Where are we? And why do we have time? Does time even exist/matter to anything? I wish we were all just light.

 

[Prototype]

I have sort of been contemplating the world, our place, etc (with Nihilistic conclusions being drawn, which I dislike a bit. Makes me feel like there is no room for progress) and would really like to hear people's opinions on spirituality, what they believe (whether you are religious with spiritual practices, or just spiritual. Or whatever the hell you believe. It may not even be spiritual. I am going to shut up now).

I have been thinking about this sort of thing lately too.

It can be a little frustrating that some people are not willing to agree on each others spiritual beliefs... But on the other hand! What's the point in agreeing with any belief in the first place? You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

IMO, spiritually is too focused on fantasy like ideals. All spiritual beliefs are driven by the ego. All spiritual beliefs are based on a goal to better oneself, to end chaos, and bring peace to all of humanity. It's OK for some to believe that when you die, you go to heaven, or hell, or where ever, it's your fantasy...

Spiritually, I don't even know which belief is right or wrong, but from what I can remember, I believe it was black before I was born. How about you?

 

[Antimony]

I have been thinking about this sort of thing lately too.

It can be a little frustrating that some people are not willing to agree on each others spiritual beliefs... But on the other hand! What's the point in agreeing with any belief in the first place? You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

You are, if you view it that way. I, however, think that my contemplations won't lead me into any worse of a place or situation than I am now. The most it does is make me sit around and think.

IMO, spiritually is too focused on fantasy like ideals. All spiritual beliefs are driven by the ego. All spiritual beliefs are based on a goal to better oneself, to end chaos, and bring peace to all of humanity. It's OK for some to believe that when you die, you go to heaven, or hell, or where ever, it's your fantasy...

That may be true for a lot of people, but what have we if not our ego, our sense of self? Now, ending chaos, peace to humanity, I know that stuff isn't going to happen, nor do I care for it to, nor do I think of a way for that to happen. I do not focus my beliefs on ideals. Rather, I try to think about what I want ideally (not like the fantasy ideals) and the facts.

I know for a fact that meditation makes my mind stop racing. I like that. I think it makes me a smoother thinker, so I practice it.

Spiritually, I don't even know which belief is right or wrong, but from what I can remember, I believe it was black before I was born. How about you?

Of course no one knows right and wrong with beliefs. They may think they know, but what is true to oneself is true to oneself. For one a certain belief may be right for them, but not for another. I guess it is about your views.

And I have no recollection of what was before I was born.

 

[Gerbah]

Anyways, yes, they can. So many wars are fought over what people believe. Whether it really is true or not, people have been fighting for centuries over IDEAS.

You see this is one reason why I do not think individual personal guidance is enough and religion unnecessary (in the sense I described before, as the “correct way”). Apart from the huge issue of whether or not those individuals are perfectly or imperfectly guided, we don't only exist as individuals, we also exist as a society. This is clear, otherwise the issue of conflict/harmony between people wouldn't matter to us. Your idea, what you turn your heart to and invest yourself in, impacts your environment/society all the time. Therefore, there must be a correct guidance for society also, otherwise we wouldn't have been created as a society (if you accept that there is an Essential Existence maintaining the chain of needy and dependent things that exist, etc. all I mentioned before). And, if, as we have established, time doesn't actually exist beyond a certain facet of a part of what is in existence, as evidenced by light, we are even simultaneously connected as a species to all persons who have ever existed and will exist. So that guidance must be relevant for all people of all time. I personally cannot accept that the Essential Existence who manages the planets' orbit, the weather, etc. did not provide a similarly necessary management system and guidance for human beings to be able to one day reach the level of a just and harmonious society. Just as individuals evolve through their personal developmental levels. We are just more complicated because we have a choice. Planets don't have a choice like that.

I wish we were all just light.

This actually reminds me of something I was reading recently. I might post about it later but I have to go again now.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Okay! So I don't really know how to research this, so I thought I would post something on here.

I have sort of been contemplating the world, our place, etc (with Nihilistic conclusions being drawn, which I dislike a bit. Makes me feel like there is no room for progress) and would really like to hear people's opinions on spirituality, what they believe (whether you are religious with spiritual practices, or just spiritual. Or whatever the hell you believe. It may not even be spiritual. I am going to shut up now).

Not so much for religion, although I do think it would be interesting to hear your view points and why, I am just saying that the purpose is not for religion, just more so for information on spirituality and practices or beliefs.

I'm a Christian if that makes a difference. However when talking about Truth I'd like to discuss it in a different way than a religion normally might.

This is how a person knows how they've discovered a truth (not just a spiritual truth but any truth). A paradigm shift will happen in their brain and afterward the things they observe in the world will make a lot more sense than they used to. The key to discovering truth is to allow these paradigm shifts to happen.

Also I want to point out that discovering truth is the opposite of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias forces reality to conform to the person's worldview. Discovering truth forces the person's worldview to conform to reality. No one wants to believe they are vulnerable to confirmation bias, but in truth we are all guilty to some extent. I try to make myself understand viewpoints that I don't initially find pleasing in order to avoid falling prey to confirmation bias.

Also be warned that seeking Truth is dangerous. Once you discover Truth you won't be able to unlearn it. You will have to live with the consequences of what you know.

 

[Asterion]

I love little coincidences!

What if I work for like the CIA, and have all my records erase, and become someone who totally does not exist, and everyone's minds are erased and they know not of who I am? So ha!

You'll have left an impact, because you exerted energy in just being, and that's going to leave a mark on the world/universe. Even if you just take up space by being born into this world, it took energy to get you there, and energy to get you out of there. It's a win win thing

Just now figuring this out?

Crazy is subjective, just now, you've been labelled crazy in comparison to me

HAHA yet another coincidence! I am reading The Two Towers, was lying on my bed looking at the some violin sheet music for The Lord of the Rings, and thinking of such!

*shifty eyes*

Maybe I can see into your mind I really wish I had more instruments, I'm thinking of just running off to buy a piano or something. Everytime I visit those stores with pianos in them, I end up learning so much simply by making sounds.

And LOTR has taught me a very important lesson: don't take the one ring.

oh, and always carry rope with you, you'll never know when you'll need to tie someone up...

Oh, I gotcha! Okay, of course I won't. I refuse to be conquered! NEVERRRR!!!!

And you tangent because you are an ENTP. Duh!

Or is it that I'm an ENTP because I tangent?

If you were to follow a religion, what one would it be? I hear many good things about buddhism, I think their use of analogy and emphasis of individual thought would be worthwhile persuing.

 

[Antimony]

TO GERBAH:

You see this is one reason why I do not think individual personal guidance is enough and religion unnecessary (in the sense I described before, as the “correct way”). Apart from the huge issue of whether or not those individuals are perfectly or imperfectly guided, we don't only exist as individuals, we also exist as a society. This is clear, otherwise the issue of conflict/harmony between people wouldn't matter to us.

I completely agree with what you say. Everyone does have their own way of doing things, and you may not know if you are perfectly guided or not. I suppose your brain would have some idea (whether you base your beliefs off of science and logic, or love and great beings, something has to make sense to you).

I cannot determine really what to do for society. It has always been my firm belief that unless we can mostly agree and not yell at each other in every language that religion should not be something which governs a society UNLESS it actually works.

Your idea, what you turn your heart to and invest yourself in, impacts your environment/society all the time. Therefore, there must be a correct guidance for society also, otherwise we wouldn't have been created as a society (if you accept that there is an Essential Existence maintaining the chain of needy and dependent things that exist, etc. all I mentioned before).

It is interesting to think that I could create something that would affect humanity for all time. Maybe there should be a set of codes for the individual/only the individual, the individual/individual in the society, and how the society/the society in and of itself should operate. And whether or not we were created that way, we ended up like that, so it is in our biology to be social

(most of us *darts glances to INTJs)

And, if, as we have established, time doesn't actually exist beyond a certain facet of a part of what is in existence, as evidenced by light, we are even simultaneously connected as a species to all persons who have ever existed and will exist. So that guidance must be relevant for all people of all time. I personally cannot accept that the Essential Existence who manages the planets' orbit, the weather, etc. did not provide a similarly necessary management system and guidance for human beings to be able to one day reach the level of a just and harmonious society. Just as individuals evolve through their personal developmental levels. We are just more complicated because we have a choice. Planets don't have a choice like that.

I firmly believe that if we have an Essential Existence, it does not manage every little thing. In fact, I don't think it controls our lives. Sure, I believe in 'destinies', but in a different way. You will end up in one place, one day. It may be anyplace. Wait...I am not talking predetermined, but I am. Goddamn. I believe in free will. I believe that maybe some things are predictable (you drop an egg on Earth, it falls and breaks) and that everything is predictable, but only if you know every little factor, all at once, every decision. But that is the only way it is predictable.

We have a choice, and science governs things like plants, animals, etc. Just like you said, their evolution. Maybe we will as a species evolve to be harmonious, but it will take many years, and there will always be people who will fight to the teeth because of new ideas. They may not know why. Maybe they are meant to be that way, maybe not. There will probably always be an opposition. How we go about it, though, is up to the individual. (I am sorry, I feel like I am making little sense )

[quoteThis actually reminds me of something I was reading recently. I might post about it later but I have to go again now.[/QUOTE]

Okay, please post. I would like to read about that.

TO LIQUID LASER:

I'm a Christian if that makes a difference. However when talking about Truth I'd like to discuss it in a different way than a religion normally might.

This is how a person knows how they've discovered a truth (not just a spiritual truth but any truth). A paradigm shift will happen in their brain and afterward the things they observe in the world will make a lot more sense than they used to. The key to discovering truth is to allow these paradigm shifts to happen.

Hm. It doesn't really matter what you are, Christian or not, this is just kind of a discussion now about beliefs. But anyways, the 'hm' as to the discovering of truth. Of course, you are quite right in saying this, and it is kind of interesting to think of the shift in my mind happening.

[quoteAlso I want to point out that discovering truth is the opposite of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias forces reality to conform to the person's worldview. Discovering truth forces the person's worldview to conform to reality. No one wants to believe they are vulnerable to confirmation bias, but in truth we are all guilty to some extent. I try to make myself understand viewpoints that I don't initially find pleasing in order to avoid falling prey to confirmation bias.

Also be warned that seeking Truth is dangerous. Once you discover Truth you won't be able to unlearn it. You will have to live with the consequences of what you know.[/QUOTE]

I try to make my own mind up on viewpoints. I try to look at everything from all angles. For now, I just kind of go with what seems most logical/beneficial. Somethings make sense, some do not. My goal is to figure out what does not make sense.

And that statement makes me feel a little...hm. It makes me think a bit. Maybe it is dangerous. What if I learn such truth and don't want to know it?

TO KING OF DESPAIR (who is crazier than I):

You'll have left an impact, because you exerted energy in just being, and that's going to leave a mark on the world/universe. Even if you just take up space by being born into this world, it took energy to get you there, and energy to get you out of there. It's a win win thing

OPTIMISTS FTW

Crazy is subjective, just now, you've been labelled crazy in comparison to me

YOU are crazy compared to me

Maybe I can see into your mind I really wish I had more instruments, I'm thinking of just running off to buy a piano or something. Everytime I visit those stores with pianos in them, I end up learning so much simply by making sounds.

Oh, go buy one! I play the piano, but I do only improvising. For some reason, it is the one instrument where it just sounds better when I just go with my fingers rather than sheet music. Well, I do that with the violin and sometimes the clarinet, but the piano is just so fun to just go with it on! Buy one!

oh, and always carry rope with you, you'll never know when you'll need to tie someone up...

And make sure you have a wizard and an army of the undead. Some of those elephants would have been good too...

Lol, tying people up

Or is it that I'm an ENTP because I tangent?

ENTP on a tangent?

If you were to follow a religion, what one would it be? I hear many good things about buddhism, I think their use of analogy and emphasis of individual thought would be worthwhile persuing.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Buddhism in the 7th or 8th grade, when I was like it is so completely illogical that there is a god who would screw a lot of people over. Then, later, much later, I decided that maybe he was just blown out of proportion.

But I really like Buddhism, the branch sans worship, because I like the ideas presented, and it is really interesting to see place on the individual. Of course, I gotta have the human pleasures of life, and cutting yourself off from those is not conducive to

A. producing some more of those little things we call babies (even though I don't think I want one...shhh)
B. living a wholesome life. Sometimes Buddhism seems like it is about emptying.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Words of wisdom.

If you can not align yourself with spirituality and remain skeptical and reserved to the topic. Then don't!

Seems to me, spirituality either works for you or it doesn't. If it works and makes you happy, there's a positive effect wether it's bogus or not. If it doesn't work, trying to make it work will only cause negativity.

That's my basic view on spiritualism and humans in general.

 

[Antimony]

I am not trying to make it work, really. Firstly, I really just want research on it. But I am also thinking that spirituality would work better for me, but I feel like I don't have incredibly developed/informed thoughts I guess.

 

[Gerbah]

I cannot determine really what to do for society. It has always been my firm belief that unless we can mostly agree and not yell at each other in every language that religion should not be something which governs a society UNLESS it actually works.

I agree. It should be a system that works at the same time as allowing for people to have their different beliefs. But if it is to be a spiritual system it should be in line with Reality. If it is in line with Reality, it will be perfect.

I firmly believe that if we have an Essential Existence, it does not manage every little thing. In fact, I don't think it controls our lives.

Yes, I also believe that. I didn't mean by the management system that the Essential Existence controls us. More that the management system provided by the Essential Existence is right for us as It made us and doesn't leave any part of our lives aimless or valueless (so since we were given choice and responsibility the system accounts for that).

We have a choice, and science governs things like plants, animals, etc. Just like you said, their evolution. Maybe we will as a species evolve to be harmonious, but it will take many years, and there will always be people who will fight to the teeth because of new ideas. They may not know why. Maybe they are meant to be that way, maybe not. There will probably always be an opposition.

I personally believe that yes, we as a species will develop until we have become complete. If we developed until now, then I don't see why that development should stop short of the end. I think it will involve dealing with opposition because humans have consciousness and choice about whether or not to accept or reject truth.

 

[Gerbah]

Also be warned that seeking Truth is dangerous. Once you discover Truth you won't be able to unlearn it. You will have to live with the consequences of what you know.

I think that's really spot on. I think also that deep down people know this so it's why they don't like to look for Truth. So they distract themselves, whether through pleasure, work, relationships, etc.

 

[Gerbah]

Okay, please post. I would like to read about that.

I read about this idea from A.H. Almaas. You can look him up on the internet. He has a certain system he came up with to recognise reality. He personally has a Sufi background but the system isn't to do with teaching a particular set of teachings, like a religion. It's more about how to figure things out for yourself, so you know for yourself. So if you are religious or not, it doesn't matter. It's just about a way that personally worked for him to sort out the filters that block you from seeing what is and to get you to know yourself. I don't personally use his system so I can't say that much about it, but I like some of his ideas and things about his approach.

As far as I understand, he says that our true nature is light in the sense that what we are, when you bring it right down to the essentials, is awareness. So, not the physical body, the emotions or even ego consciousness and personality, we are not bounded by time and space, etc. (like light). We just believe those things because it is what we have identified with, e.g. some people place their identity (i.e. saying “I” am this or that) very much in their body and its boundaries, or their feelings or, most commonly, their ego and personality. If you want to read his work, I can highly recommend The Pearl Beyond Price – Integration of Personality into Being: An Object Relations Approach. It combines the findings of psychology, particularly object relations theory, with spirituality.

It is interesting to me because there are very old religions that also say stuff about light, e.g. such and such person's light as existing before the world began. So it's an old idea.

 

[Gerbah]

A. producing some more of those little things we call babies (even though I don't think I want one...shhh)

Oh do have one. Mine is like my little best friend