One of the hardest things to do is discover is purpose, especially in relation to one's career. There are some who jump at every opportunity that comes toward them, and often get stuck with one or the other. Getting stuck only happens when the fear of change sets in and opportunity can no longer be recognized.
I have had the opposite problem. I've been everywhere, studied so many different things. I have had opportunity smack me in the face multiple times, often by the same people. I have been stuck on the fear of change too, but the fear of change from a dynamic life to a more static one, simpler and a bit more straightforward. It seems life eventually funnels down into this routine. I know, of course, that I will not stop studying and participating in my interests such as Spirituality, religions, Video Games, etc. I want to maintain those aspects of myself, and continue to develop them. It is odd how I have feared certainty, been uncertain about certainty so to speak.
I have felt confidence I haven't had in a long while, the influences of my past are slowly releasing their grip. Maybe now I can make myself successful with all the skills I have attained instead of showing them off as mere potential. I am motivated and pushing forward, taking on many responsibilities that may be very lucrative in the future.
The hardest thing to do is to maintain my sense of neutrality among the factions I have encountered. This Advaita, or Non-duality that I have established as my personal philosophy requires an immense amount of conscious participation to maintain. Perhaps this is a good thing.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Wealth, God and Happiness
The following was a reply to a discussion about whether Christians Should be Wealthy or not on myLot Discussions:
What do you need wealth for but to maintain your level of living? What are you going to save for? What are you going to spend on? What is the point of hoarding wealth instead of spreading it to others or into the economy (through purchasing, creating jobs, investing, etc.) Wealth does nothing. It is an insubstantial number in an insubstantial account somewhere...which surprisingly can be used to purchase substantial things. Until it is used it is just potential.
Those who are wealthy are those who have something substantial. This substance can be emotional, mental or physical. Being Christian and having money in an account does not mean you are wealthy, especially if you believe that true wealth is to have the compassion and salvation of your Lord and savior. If you have this, you are wealthy. Is it wrong then to be wealthy in such a manner?
Place this perspective on the concept of wealth and you will see that whatever it is that fulfills you is wealth. If a number in an account fulfills you, then that is wealth. If your friends and family are happy around you and it fulfills you then that is wealth. If knowing you have the kingdom of God in your reach as a promise from your lord and savior, then that is wealth.
Looking at it this way...I don't see whats wrong with being wealthy, Christian or otherwise.
What do you need wealth for but to maintain your level of living? What are you going to save for? What are you going to spend on? What is the point of hoarding wealth instead of spreading it to others or into the economy (through purchasing, creating jobs, investing, etc.) Wealth does nothing. It is an insubstantial number in an insubstantial account somewhere...which surprisingly can be used to purchase substantial things. Until it is used it is just potential.
Those who are wealthy are those who have something substantial. This substance can be emotional, mental or physical. Being Christian and having money in an account does not mean you are wealthy, especially if you believe that true wealth is to have the compassion and salvation of your Lord and savior. If you have this, you are wealthy. Is it wrong then to be wealthy in such a manner?
Place this perspective on the concept of wealth and you will see that whatever it is that fulfills you is wealth. If a number in an account fulfills you, then that is wealth. If your friends and family are happy around you and it fulfills you then that is wealth. If knowing you have the kingdom of God in your reach as a promise from your lord and savior, then that is wealth.
Looking at it this way...I don't see whats wrong with being wealthy, Christian or otherwise.
Monday, June 15, 2009
On Death and Memory - Birth and Death
When a person is born, it can be said that they have no memory whatsoever of anything before birth. Can this not be said then of death? Is there really that much of a difference between birth and death?
If both are said to be oblivious states in which conscious does not yet, or ceases to exist, then they are one in the same. There is no difference, before or after, for something that doesn't exist. Experience of consciousness happens during the living phase, which is the only phase. A state of non-existence is not a phase. This is an interesting thought, because God is said to be beyond time and space, essentially a phaseless existence. There is no change because there is no change possible, as a moment to change does not exist.
If both are said to be conscious states of which we only have no memory, then it calls into question so many different things. What were we before we were born? What created us if we were nothing before we were born? The generation of a soul may be just an accident of physical birth. If it is, then is Man the creator of Man?
What decided what body we assumed before we were born if were not created at birth? From here we go on into various metaphysical and theological questions about God and the nature of reality. However, none of these questions can be satisfactorily answered without some degree of hesitation, exception or faith.
I do not think that there is any difference between Birth and Death, they are merely labels for transitional states of which we move from one existence to another. Even if we have no memory left, if we move on to become angel or demon, animal or human again, there must be some condition that has come from our past lives, generate by our actions and conscious thought, that moves on into another body or mode of existence. What is to say that a rock which has had my ashes placed upon it does not contain some of my essence. Who knows in what world that rock may become part of another living being, by passive influence or by direct absorbtion as a mineral.
Birth, Life, Death, Reincarnation, Eternal Salvation, Transcendental States, are all speculation and will remain so until we experience the end for ourselves...if there remains an experience to be had.
If both are said to be oblivious states in which conscious does not yet, or ceases to exist, then they are one in the same. There is no difference, before or after, for something that doesn't exist. Experience of consciousness happens during the living phase, which is the only phase. A state of non-existence is not a phase. This is an interesting thought, because God is said to be beyond time and space, essentially a phaseless existence. There is no change because there is no change possible, as a moment to change does not exist.
If both are said to be conscious states of which we only have no memory, then it calls into question so many different things. What were we before we were born? What created us if we were nothing before we were born? The generation of a soul may be just an accident of physical birth. If it is, then is Man the creator of Man?
What decided what body we assumed before we were born if were not created at birth? From here we go on into various metaphysical and theological questions about God and the nature of reality. However, none of these questions can be satisfactorily answered without some degree of hesitation, exception or faith.
I do not think that there is any difference between Birth and Death, they are merely labels for transitional states of which we move from one existence to another. Even if we have no memory left, if we move on to become angel or demon, animal or human again, there must be some condition that has come from our past lives, generate by our actions and conscious thought, that moves on into another body or mode of existence. What is to say that a rock which has had my ashes placed upon it does not contain some of my essence. Who knows in what world that rock may become part of another living being, by passive influence or by direct absorbtion as a mineral.
Birth, Life, Death, Reincarnation, Eternal Salvation, Transcendental States, are all speculation and will remain so until we experience the end for ourselves...if there remains an experience to be had.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Man as God, Man as Nature
Man as God
One of the most common mystical realizations in any religious tradition is the unity between Man and God. One does not, and cannot exist without the other. This is not a relationship of dependence, but of unity. Man cannot be separate from the whole of God, as the whole of God is everything. God cannot separate man from itself because this would imply that there would be something other than God, and a space in which Man could exist that is other than God.
This is one of the reasons man tends to anthropomorphize God. Man describes God as having Human attributes. This is the only way Man can relate to such a concept of supreme Deity. But perchance the descriptions are not far from the truth? Perhaps God is more human like than even imagined.
The implications of this are great, as it puts into question concepts such as morality, justice, chaos, etc. All these concepts are part of God not as physical reality, but as abstract musings...thoughts formed in the minds of men to explain things we cannot understand but have no solid existence. Good and Evil have no place in unity, and hence are nullified. With the realization of this comes a sort of quiet, and dispassion toward judging things as Good or Evil. This is what the Buddha speaks of when he teaches about enlightenment, Nirvana or Moksha (Liberation). Liberation from suffering which comes from attachments, which stem from the Judgment between Good and Evil.
Man as Nature
Nature is not often seen as connected to man as God is. It is a wonder why, seeing as Man is born of the stuff of nature. Man cannot be apart from nature lest Man dies. Man is immediatly and irrevocably connected to the planet Earth. Even when travelling off into the stars, Man must take parts of the Earth along in order to survive. They take air, water, food, materials, etc. Does this not imply that it is not human beings that are travelling into space...but the Earth itself?
Consider Man as an extension of the Earth, like a mountain, a river, a piece of rock. Imagine this rock hurtling itself through space. It is still part of the Earth as it was formed, planned and nurtered there. Human beings are the most complex part of the Earth. What Man does to the Earth, is done with Earth itself as Man is created of the stuff of the Earth and uses the stuff of the Earth in his technologies and daily living. Pollution, restoration, construction, demolition, harvesting and gardening. These are all done to the Earth, with tools created from the Earth, by the Earth (Earth as Human Beings).
Looking at nature in this way, humans can and do anthropomorphize it. The Earth is like a person, and a Person like the Earth. Just like a human being, the Earth is born, grows old and can die. Man is not just one with the Earth, Man is the Earth. It is just like Man's relationship with God, Man be apart from it. The only difference is there is an empty space beyond the Earth that is known Man cannot live within, but yet it remains existing without the sphere.
However, how can Man sure it is not a part of that too? When a vacuum between Man's atoms. In fact, what to say the pressure from the vacuum that exists around the is not the very source of gravity that holds it together as it does Man's very atoms?
Responsibility
Knowing this is not to say that Man has no repsonsibility for his or her actions. In fact, this realization increases the responsibility to the individual. It becomes a duty to look t the events of the world with disspassionate care. Good, Evil, Justice and Punishment no longer become the driving force in a persons life. Man attains the knowledge of his or her responsibility to the themselves, nature and God. The responsibility is the same. It is a realization and a force that comes from within and needs no social system to keep in check, and creates no perversions out of attachments or unquelled desires.
This is the liberation from suffering, the realization that there is no suffering with the realizaiton of the unity between Man, Nature and God. They are all one. This is the sacred Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; Brahman, Vishnu and Shiva. Earth, Man and Space; Man, Woman and Child.
Looking at the world with neutral caring eyes creates a prosperous and long life for both Man and Nature. As long as Man and Nature exist the belief and role of God shall remains among the planet. Man's repsonsibility as a living, conscious beings is fulfilled when establishing that caring presence among our peers and loved ones. It spreads like wildfire.
One of the most common mystical realizations in any religious tradition is the unity between Man and God. One does not, and cannot exist without the other. This is not a relationship of dependence, but of unity. Man cannot be separate from the whole of God, as the whole of God is everything. God cannot separate man from itself because this would imply that there would be something other than God, and a space in which Man could exist that is other than God.
This is one of the reasons man tends to anthropomorphize God. Man describes God as having Human attributes. This is the only way Man can relate to such a concept of supreme Deity. But perchance the descriptions are not far from the truth? Perhaps God is more human like than even imagined.
The implications of this are great, as it puts into question concepts such as morality, justice, chaos, etc. All these concepts are part of God not as physical reality, but as abstract musings...thoughts formed in the minds of men to explain things we cannot understand but have no solid existence. Good and Evil have no place in unity, and hence are nullified. With the realization of this comes a sort of quiet, and dispassion toward judging things as Good or Evil. This is what the Buddha speaks of when he teaches about enlightenment, Nirvana or Moksha (Liberation). Liberation from suffering which comes from attachments, which stem from the Judgment between Good and Evil.
Man as Nature
Nature is not often seen as connected to man as God is. It is a wonder why, seeing as Man is born of the stuff of nature. Man cannot be apart from nature lest Man dies. Man is immediatly and irrevocably connected to the planet Earth. Even when travelling off into the stars, Man must take parts of the Earth along in order to survive. They take air, water, food, materials, etc. Does this not imply that it is not human beings that are travelling into space...but the Earth itself?
Consider Man as an extension of the Earth, like a mountain, a river, a piece of rock. Imagine this rock hurtling itself through space. It is still part of the Earth as it was formed, planned and nurtered there. Human beings are the most complex part of the Earth. What Man does to the Earth, is done with Earth itself as Man is created of the stuff of the Earth and uses the stuff of the Earth in his technologies and daily living. Pollution, restoration, construction, demolition, harvesting and gardening. These are all done to the Earth, with tools created from the Earth, by the Earth (Earth as Human Beings).
Looking at nature in this way, humans can and do anthropomorphize it. The Earth is like a person, and a Person like the Earth. Just like a human being, the Earth is born, grows old and can die. Man is not just one with the Earth, Man is the Earth. It is just like Man's relationship with God, Man be apart from it. The only difference is there is an empty space beyond the Earth that is known Man cannot live within, but yet it remains existing without the sphere.
However, how can Man sure it is not a part of that too? When a vacuum between Man's atoms. In fact, what to say the pressure from the vacuum that exists around the is not the very source of gravity that holds it together as it does Man's very atoms?
Responsibility
Knowing this is not to say that Man has no repsonsibility for his or her actions. In fact, this realization increases the responsibility to the individual. It becomes a duty to look t the events of the world with disspassionate care. Good, Evil, Justice and Punishment no longer become the driving force in a persons life. Man attains the knowledge of his or her responsibility to the themselves, nature and God. The responsibility is the same. It is a realization and a force that comes from within and needs no social system to keep in check, and creates no perversions out of attachments or unquelled desires.
This is the liberation from suffering, the realization that there is no suffering with the realizaiton of the unity between Man, Nature and God. They are all one. This is the sacred Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; Brahman, Vishnu and Shiva. Earth, Man and Space; Man, Woman and Child.
Looking at the world with neutral caring eyes creates a prosperous and long life for both Man and Nature. As long as Man and Nature exist the belief and role of God shall remains among the planet. Man's repsonsibility as a living, conscious beings is fulfilled when establishing that caring presence among our peers and loved ones. It spreads like wildfire.
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