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Universal Epiphany - Am I a Buddhist? Taoist? Idiot? Something else?
MindGate
United States Veteran
Okay... so, my beliefs are pretty much this:
Everything, Reality, is infinite, ever expanding, ever changing. There will never be a true beginning or end. Its always been here, always will be. To me, it only makes sense that Reality exists this way. Why would it be static, or be one way over another? It just doesn't seem so. In nature, there is never a start or an end. As you can see, everything gets recycled, perhaps even the universe.
This Reality, this infiniteness, is one. It is all one, made of the same thing, from the same place. For example" Everything we see is paint and a canvas. You, me, earth, Saturn, Andromeda: all paint and part of the canvas. But, as a whole, they are a painting. Its all recycled matter and energy, all infinite and one.
We are not a single entity. We are not "us." There is no "us" to exist by itself. We are changing forever and always. If your arm gets cut off, is that still you? When you're dead, is that body still you? When its decayed and being eaten by a worm, and thus becoming part of the worm, are you now the worm? When you were connected to your mom, were you a separate entity? When you were an egg, were you separate? Were you the food that gave your mom nourishment and the right amount of vitamins, minerals, and other things to create an egg that became you? Are you that orange she ate before she made that egg? Where did you exist before your parents? Where will you be after you die? Is that dead skin cell falling off of you right now "you?" When its being eaten by bedbugs, will you then be bedbug dung?
We don't exist separately. We are just recycled over and over and over again. You are made from the same stuff that the tree out back, or that dog humping the lamp post out front is made of. As a whole, we are one, we are this Reality. This chaotic, infinite, expanding, changing Reality.
When you realize this, and believe it whole-heartedly, things will become easier to you. You suffer because you try and bend the will of Reality to what your ego wants. If you just go with the flow, let things roll off of you, don't get attached to things, you're be free of suffering. You don't need to not desire to strive towards something, just don't let it get to you if you don't get it. If you do get it, don't let that get to your head either.
Am I enlightened? No. I'm sure I'm very far from it. I have not mastered the art of going with the flow, not being attached to things. So, what am I? Is my logic flawed?
Everything, Reality, is infinite, ever expanding, ever changing. There will never be a true beginning or end. Its always been here, always will be. To me, it only makes sense that Reality exists this way. Why would it be static, or be one way over another? It just doesn't seem so. In nature, there is never a start or an end. As you can see, everything gets recycled, perhaps even the universe.
This Reality, this infiniteness, is one. It is all one, made of the same thing, from the same place. For example" Everything we see is paint and a canvas. You, me, earth, Saturn, Andromeda: all paint and part of the canvas. But, as a whole, they are a painting. Its all recycled matter and energy, all infinite and one.
We are not a single entity. We are not "us." There is no "us" to exist by itself. We are changing forever and always. If your arm gets cut off, is that still you? When you're dead, is that body still you? When its decayed and being eaten by a worm, and thus becoming part of the worm, are you now the worm? When you were connected to your mom, were you a separate entity? When you were an egg, were you separate? Were you the food that gave your mom nourishment and the right amount of vitamins, minerals, and other things to create an egg that became you? Are you that orange she ate before she made that egg? Where did you exist before your parents? Where will you be after you die? Is that dead skin cell falling off of you right now "you?" When its being eaten by bedbugs, will you then be bedbug dung?
We don't exist separately. We are just recycled over and over and over again. You are made from the same stuff that the tree out back, or that dog humping the lamp post out front is made of. As a whole, we are one, we are this Reality. This chaotic, infinite, expanding, changing Reality.
When you realize this, and believe it whole-heartedly, things will become easier to you. You suffer because you try and bend the will of Reality to what your ego wants. If you just go with the flow, let things roll off of you, don't get attached to things, you're be free of suffering. You don't need to not desire to strive towards something, just don't let it get to you if you don't get it. If you do get it, don't let that get to your head either.
Am I enlightened? No. I'm sure I'm very far from it. I have not mastered the art of going with the flow, not being attached to things. So, what am I? Is my logic flawed?
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Comments
Life's purpose is just for you to be happy. Theres nothing else except for you to be happy. Right now is right where you have to be. Right now is perfect. You can be happy, you can having meaning.
When you die, you aren't dead. You are, in fact, reincarnated. Not through a soul, but through energy. You turn into heat, worm food, plant food, and eventually human food. Your body gets recycled. The people you affected while living your life, you live through them. You made a difference. This "karma" is just a wave effect throughout reality. It changes it. Every moment, everything changes because of what you just did. Right now is the time.
You suffer because you try and bend the will of Reality to what your ego wants. If you just go with the flow, let things roll off of you, don't get attached to things, you're be free of suffering. You don't need to not desire to strive towards something, just don't let it get to you if you don't get it. If you do get it, don't let that get to your head either.
The point of Buddhism is to stop suffering. From what I'm away of, the causes of suffering are the points I made above. Its very hard for me to follows these though, so I'm quite the hypocrite.
Anyways... I just don't seem to be able to get into meditating. Its not that it bores me or anything. I ask myself, "Should I go meditate?" then I ponder it and then go, "Nah." I don't know why though.
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So... is that an compliment or an insult? Heh..
But it will come back! You can trust that. I am happy you are open and curious about the world. Just remember that thinking is just that. Thinking.
To me, it just sort of seems like common sense and breaking things down.
I don't think someone is Buddhist or Taoist because of their philosophical views/if they seem to be consistent with the original teacher of that tradition.
Just my thought.
You're not an idiot either
1. Reality is constantly changing, there is no static Universe. Everything is recycled.
This is nothing groundbreaking, since it is pretty much confirmed by science. The universe is expanding. It is impossible to tell what happened before the Big Bang, but it is a possibility that there was another universe that collapsed. The fact that "everything is always recycled" is obviously true-from water to soil. I don't really see the point you are trying to make.
2. Everything is made from the same thing, it is all one.
Not true. We do not know enough about energy and matter to verify this-in fact, what we do know would point to disproving it. What makes up dark matter and dark energy is not the same that makes up us, and to suggest that we are "one" is a stretch. Furthermore, even on earth, everything is not one. Sure, maybe we all share a simple building block atom. Beyond that, we are very different. Cloth is not the same as silk, just as I am not the same as you. To say that we are all "one" because we all evolved from the big bang is like saying Buddhism is one with Christianity since they both are religions.
3. We are not a single entity.
Sure, we are not a single entity. We are connected to everything. But just because an alligator consumed your arm doesn't mean that you are the alligator, or the alligator is you. An arm does not think for itself-nor does dead skin cells. To suggest that we are all a single entity because we share some sort of matter is false. We all effect eachother and interact with eachother, but this does not show we are "one entity".
4. This oneness is reality.
And here is where your argument falls apart. The is no independent reality-my reality is different than yours; at its most simple level, this is because the speed of light and sound. However, you make the argument that we are all one, and this is reality-a contradictory statement. My reality is different than yours, showing we are not "one" in your sense of the word.
5. Can't disagree.
Interesting thoughts. Again, these are just arguments against it, not necessarily my actual beliefs.
2. We are all made of atoms, all made or electrons, Neutrons, etc. These atoms share and exchange electrons and such. They intermix and pull apart. Essentially, the same thing. If you believe in string theory, everything is energy. We are made of energy too whether or not you believe it. The vibration of the atoms, the movement of the electrons. Energy. Its not created or destroyed.
3. What the arm is made of goes into the alligator and is nourishment for it. Its energy goes into the alligator. It just changed form. It just keeps changing form. I just perceive reality as ONE thing. Its just expansive, infinite. All of this is part of reality. Thats why I see it as "one." It is part of reality, which is all that exists.
4) Above?
5) I said desire is good. You must not have read what I said carefully. I just said don't be upset if your desires are not met.
I read a page or so of Deleuze And The Question Of Desire and he started talking about ethics and morality and such so I'm assuming it has to do with that.
2. Yes, energy is not created or destroyed. Your point? This is commonly accepted science, not radical philosophy.?\ You are forgetting something-what makes each individual different-consiousness! There is a reason I don't think the same way you do, and in my mind, its not because random neutrons firing.
3. Yes, we are composed of similar atoms. Again, you are forgetting something important-consiousness. And again, there is no independent reality. Reality is dependent on the observer.
Deleuze claims that standards of value are internal or immanent: to live well is to fully express one's power, to go to the limits of one's potential, rather than to judge what exists by non-empirical, transcendent standards. Modern society still suppresses difference and alienates persons from what they can do. To affirm reality, which is a flux of change and difference, we must overturn established identities and so become all that we can become—though we cannot know what that is in advance. The pinnacle of Deleuzean practice, then, is creativity. "Herein, perhaps, lies the secret: to bring into existence and not to judge. If it is so disgusting to judge, it is not because everything is of equal value, but on the contrary because what has value can be made or distinguished only by defying judgment. What expert judgment, in art, could ever bear on the work to come?"
2. The term is neurons, not neutrons. If you're so fascinated by science, I'm surprised you don't accept this scientific concept. We pretty much already have consciousness understood, for the most part.
3. Reality is dependent on the observer- true. Don't know how to respond. Hmm... I should ponder this.
Jim Carrey is a funny guy in general, though.
2. Read Stephen Hawking's new book if you believe this. He says that even if we are essentially robots that react according to scientific equations, there are so many different variables that would be interacting that it would be impossible to ever understand how a person will react. Thus, we have some type of free will, since our actions aren't predictable.
Also, I am in the middle of writing a book on why Christianity makes absolutely no sense at all.
2) So, does that mean we technically COULD be predictable, we are just personally unable to predict ourselves?
Christianity may not be for you or me. I think criticizing it is wrong, however. To paraphrase a popular Buddhist idea, whatever drives people to become better people is a good (albeit, some Christians do not do good things, but the same could be said about people of all religions!).
2. By this theory, we could be predictable. We could just never do the math to actually predict.
And stoning people is good? Killing non-believers is good? NO. The Bible is not a good rulebook. I'm sorry. Its not. It does worse than good. I could give many reasons why. Every Christian I met, when I say I'm an Atheist or a Buddhist, they look down upon me. Yeah, thats a good thing, isn't it?
2. So, where are you getting it?
LMAO!
We have a form of free-will.
But still, I find Christianity senseless and bad in general.
And sorry if I'm coming off as aggressive towards you, thats just my nature.
Sri Jeffrey has made the critical point - about the nature of the Universe which got lost in all the others.
The key is REAL-ization as we can think about these things for an aeon, but to realise being bedbug dung is not a scientific enterprise, but an ontological experience. It starts by looking at who is very far from IT. Who has not mastered the art of going with the flow, who is not attached to things. So, YES...what am I? Answer, that an you will not only know what black matter is made of, you will be it - even if you didn't know it exists.
Its a funny thing, and perhaps it is better to be like a donkey than a Physics Professor; but better is relative, as in this regard, the above discussion is about different types of knowing...
But in reality, the Buddha never spend much time talking about those things and when he did he was usually saying such questions and topics were not relevant to the path. He would then turn the questioner back to.... suffering.... the causes of suffering....
At the core all religion has the same message. Kill your ego and realize your true nature.
I'm sure Christianity started off as a wonderful thing and Jesus tried to liberate people from suffering the same as Buddha. I'm sure that when he said he was "the son of god" was that everybody is the son of god and that we all share a conscience, etc, etc.
Its interesting to think how god became so personified that Christians tend to think of him as an old dude with long white hair and a beard sitting on a throne on a cloud. Artist depictions? Breakdown of language and translations?
Who knows really it's all speculation, but I don't think it need be labeled bad, I don't think anything can really be labeled as bad.