Conversation Board - "I was a Highwayman" v.s. "The Bugs

Brendan

Ex Member

"I was a Highwayman" v.s. "The Bugs
Mar 4^th, 2005 at 4:51am

For the life of me... why do people think reincarnation would be a bad thing, and prefer the "you only go around once and then stay put in heaven/hell or Nirvana or waht have you?"
I just heard an old country song on the radio - one I've always liked. "I was a Highwayman" by Waylon Jennings (I think...)
Here you have an individual who "is" for all eternity... recalling numerous adventures... and who at the end of the song, seems to indicate he is at liberty to CHOOSE his next incarnation (at such time as his OWN discretion dictates.)
If THIS vision of the "afterlife" is Reality, then I'd say Reality is pretty darn cool. The ultimate reality would be that "God" is the INDIVIDUAL, "every man for himself!" No drugged out, vapid "antpile" sort of existence (like Christian Heaven, to name one of a few... doesn't most descriptions of heaven sound a bit like being drugged into semi-oblivion after all? Or Nirvana, or any other "perfect land" sort of situation, for that matter.)
Individualism seems to get a bad rap among people given to a spiritual/mystical turn of mind... why is this?
Remember the movie "Starship Troopers?" Sure, the idea of the human future being one of "Nazis in Space" isn't what I'd call ideal, but it would beat the crap out of being one of the "Bugs" with their collective, Borg-esque culture... doncha think?
Most visions of a "permanent afterlife" involve a society resembling the "Bugs"... individualism is COMPLETELY subsumed to the interests of the "collective."
So, 'Nuff rambling for now. I just want to know, why is the "Bug" afterlife so popular among mystics (with its celibacy and suffocating "niceness") and individualism considered "evil"?
Resident Skeptic (teetering on the edge of unfounded "belief", otherwise I wouldn't be here...)
Undecided

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Bruce Moen

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Re: "I was a Highwayman" v.s. "The
Reply #1 - Mar 4^th, 2005 at 10:20am

Brendan,

Quote:

For the life of me... why do people think reincarnation would be a bad thing, and prefer the "you only go around once and then stay put in heaven/hell or Nirvana or waht have you?"

I feel the same way. Even Nirvana probably gets boring after a couple a hundred million years. Being there a person might start thinking, "I need a vacation from Nirvana. This place is just too perfect, too eternal, too . . . well . . . predictable!"

Reincarnation could be a great break from the boredom of eternal bliss, I'm serious! As Dannion Brinkley says, no matter how long you think eternity is, it is way longer than that. So what better thing to do in the case of being bored with one's eternal existence than to take a little vacation from eternity.

Incarnate on earth and you can totally forget you are an eternal being. It's like going to a movie. Buy your ticket, get some popcorn, walk into the theater and settle into your seat. And when the lights go down you can really get involved in the movie. So invloved you forget all about the fact that it is just a movie. Forget you are an eternal being who is going to go back to living with the knowledge of your eternal nature when the movie is over and you are forced to return home when you leave the theater.

Me. I'm just Here on vacation, temporarily escaping the boredom of eternal bliss. And this movie is pretty great. I don't even have any idea how or when this movie ends, so I'm just going to enjoy the show while it lasts.

Bruce

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Justin2710

Ex Member

Re: "I was a Highwayman" v.s. "The
Reply #2 - Mar 4^th, 2005 at 10:24am

Bruce wrote, "
Incarnate on earth and you can totally forget you are an eternal being. It's like going to a movie. Buy your ticket, get some popcorn, walk into the theater and settle into your seat. And when the lights go down you can really get involved in the movie. So invloved you forget all about the fact that it is just a movie. Forget you are an eternal being who is going to go back to living with the knowledge of your eternal nature when the movie is over and you are forced to return home when you leave the theater."

Lol that sounds just like the premise of that book i mentioned earlier "Illusions" by Richard Bach. Such a great little book. Lets go watch a movie everyone

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alysia

Ex Member

Re: "I was a Highwayman" v.s. "The
Reply #3 - Mar 4^th, 2005 at 11:13am

Quote:

For the life of me... why do people think reincarnation would be a bad thing, and prefer the "you only go around once and then stay put in heaven/hell or Nirvana or waht have you?"
I just heard an old country song on the radio - one I've always liked. "I was a Highwayman" by Waylon Jennings (I think...)
Here you have an individual who "is" for all eternity... recalling numerous adventures... and who at the end of the song, seems to indicate he is at liberty to CHOOSE his next incarnation (at such time as his OWN discretion dictates.)
If THIS vision of the "afterlife" is Reality, then I'd say Reality is pretty darn cool. The ultimate reality would be that "God" is the INDIVIDUAL, "every man for himself!" No drugged out, vapid "antpile" sort of existence (like Christian Heaven, to name one of a few... doesn't most descriptions of heaven sound a bit like being drugged into semi-oblivion after all? Or Nirvana, or any other "perfect land" sort of situation, for that matter.)
Individualism seems to get a bad rap among people given to a spiritual/mystical turn of mind... why is this?
Remember the movie "Starship Troopers?" Sure, the idea of the human future being one of "Nazis in Space" isn't what I'd call ideal, but it would beat the crap out of being one of the "Bugs" with their collective, Borg-esque culture... doncha think?
Most visions of a "permanent afterlife" involve a society resembling the "Bugs"... individualism is COMPLETELY subsumed to the interests of the "collective."
So, 'Nuff rambling for now. I just want to know, why is the "Bug" afterlife so popular among mystics (with its celibacy and suffocating "niceness") and individualism considered "evil"?
Resident Skeptic (teetering on the edge of unfounded "belief", otherwise I wouldn't be here...)
Undecided

btw, I love that song u mentioned and the spooky way he sings it is cool. I like your post too. I understand both sides of the issue..but I've changed. lol. I used to say (scream rather) ain't coming back, no way, can't make me, read my lips. no way! but then I died one day. lol. it's posted on the retrieval page. and a lot more things happened from going within which not appropriate to post 300 pages here. so reason to write a book or try. but nowdays I say, don't matter one way or the other. I am curious though about other physical planets/dimensions and so will probably check it out one eternity or another here. it appears that as a spirit, and speaking personally of course, you can exist without belief systems or memories, but I noticed I had one trait I think we all share, but maybe its individual? I retained a sense of adventure while dead. it might have been responsible for allowing me to get around. and Bruce's comment about life is a movie, theres a lot of stuff out there saying the same thing. I came to believe it after I came across Cozzolino's "the Path."
www.skyhero.com really relaxing material at the same time mind-blowing to think of yourself as a hologram in a movie. however, there is a positive note from invitable crashes, in that we can choose our reactions to life and others who come within our sphere of interaction. enjoy the movie is my plan anyway. I think you'd enjoy Gordon's book here "Eternal Life and how to enjoy it."

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Brendan

Ex Member

Re: "I was a Highwayman" v.s. "The
Reply #4 - Mar 5^th, 2005 at 1:56am

It's a funny thing, maybe because I'm not a very social individual. But I'm actually COMFORTED by the thought that "nobody gives a @#$*, you're on your own."
That there is no personal "God" or "judge" watching what I do. That in the end, it's just me and infinity...
And Total Freedom.
Maybe it's because most people I've met in this life, I don't care whether I ever see them again or not... the ones that weren't jerks were, shall we say... REPLACEABLE.
Thus I'm not really interested in seeing anybody in particular on the other side.
I guess I'm not a very loving guy? WTH.
If there was an "eternal afterlife" - well, there are some BIG (to me) things I did wrong in this life, things I'd like a second go at - or a third, fourth, or maybe even a hundredth. If I went to "heaven" and stayed put, I'd have to accept that success in these things would be forever a MYSTERY to me, whatever the "joys" of that heaven were.
Frankly, in that case I'd rather that mechanistic materialism be true, and death would mean total oblivion for me.
If Christianity is true, for example... that would be a disaster of MASSIVE proportions for me (I consider it the WORST of all possibilities, even if I didn't get thrown into Hell. I prefer mechanistic materialism to fundie Christianity any day! I don't want to spend eternity in a cross between Chinese Communism and a church service!)
Thusly, I prefer infinite reincarnations (hopefully as a human male!!!)
Resident Skeptic

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alysia

Ex Member

Re: "I was a Highwayman" v.s. "The
Reply #5 - Mar 5^th, 2005 at 10:42am

what would u say if I told you the two worlds were the same; that whatever your life is now is what your life would be on the other side, minus a physical body, and greatly enhanced manueverability? (travel by thought)

just stay away from the churches, obviously, religion does not set too well with your free spirit. BTW, the title Eternal Life, etc. is vastly deceiving, it is not about religion. actually, neither is this forum. it's just about life and the continuation of it. You have free will you know and I see you are using it pretty well. Religion is just like any other system of thought; it's just a highway among many here. it's good to get off the highway and take the backroads once in awhile. camp out under the stars, talk to a duck about profound things. I too, have sworn off traditional religious concepts which lead to either hell or heaven. must be a balance in there somewhere.
thanks for your post. A lot of people I suspect are in alignment with it.

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Justin2710 Ex Member	Re: "I was a Highwayman" v.s. "The Reply #6 - Mar 5^th, 2005 at 10:45am Well Brendan, you certainly have a sense of humor I've heard that is a really respected attribute in the other dimensions.... I agree with you too, i don't much personally like fundamentalist/orthodox/tradionalist Christianity, though i love our elder bro-dude.
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