heisenberg69 wrote on May 13^th, 2016 at 3:27pm:


Yes, the "problems" most of us think we have are definitely not third world problems.  While we discuss the possibility of the afterlife, they worry about starvation, disease, and whether they'll be alive the next day.  Children being beheaded and their bodies crucified, girls being kidnapped and raped, women being murdered while their husbands are being forced to watch, men being put in cages and burned alive,and scores of other atrocities, really do put things in perspective.

R

I have often heard that ine should not think overmuch about the afterlife or any other philosophical item because the arguer did not believe it relevant to "real" life.

I agree insofar as one should definitely not neglect actual life joys and pains for philosophy. Also, I share thr buddhist view of being aware of the present moment.

However, as DocM says, suffering is not limited to the third world. Nor do I believe poor people do not think about philosophy. The least which is often - and corretly- heard is that the world is sometimes very cruel and unfair. But by what does one measure what is fair and what isn't? This distinction alone is already philosophical in nature and probably unique to sentient beings.

From thinking about what is fair between individuals, it is a small step to think about how life should be between groups (such as nations or religions). And from this, it is also a tiny step to ponder whether our life has any context and meaning at all. And I do believe that apart from situations of immediate danger, all humans think about these things sometimes. Many have written philosophical texts while imprisoned, for example.

We have lots of ways to describe our fears, but all fear is actually the fear of the unknown.  There are countless ways in which we all try to alleviate our fears, especially the fear of death.  Sometimes just realizing we do go on is enough to adequately alleviate the fear to live a life relatively free of emotional suffering at least until we are confronted with death in some meaningful way.  However, even proving to yourself, or even if there's confirmation the non-physical exists, that alone likely would not be enough to change the current paradigm from one that is fear based to one that is based on love, caring and understanding.

Institutionalized religions, governments, businesses, politicians, or anyone who wishes to manipulate a relationship has capitalized on fear, especially fear of death throughout time.  And as long as our collective philosophies and belief systems based on fear continue that likely will not change.  What is needed is a new, verifiable paradigm that can incorporate and explain the unexplained.  I don't think this would completely eliminate human fear initially because of our intrinsic survival instinct, but I do believe it would go along ways in the evolution of human consciousness and humanity as a whole.

Like Matthew, I have no doubt that consciousness is not only primary, but also a process.  Consciousness is an unstoppable activity that is constantly changing... evolving, or devolving.  Human consciousness is only a minuscule part of a larger organism that is Consciousness as a single, evolving process.  Nothing actually exists outside of consciousness and we as human consciousness live and move within this larger Being. 

We are the movements of consciousness interacting with itself as consciousness within consciousness.  We are not in the world, the world is in us.  We are not in our body, our body is in us.  We are not in the mind, the mind is in us.  We are the presence in which any and all things that we view as external circles around.  Even when we move our awareness out of presence to seek something we want such as happiness, the happiness we seek can still only be experienced in the presence so presence is also the end point. 

We are the presence from which awareness arises and falls.  We, as human consciousness are that awareness and we don't die because death is only an awareness of a space/time event.  A space/time event is only part of the fluctuation of awareness that arises and falls from the presence that we are as a being of consciousness.

Once we are able to understand and internalize the idea that we are at a fundamental level consciousness and only consciousness we begin to look at things from a different perspective.  One that is from the top down instead of the bottom up so to speak.  This also brings about new possibilities to explore on a personal level that can give us a greater understanding of all of our experiences.

K

Knowing you are eternal and having somewhat of an understanding of the big picture can help you understand what's important now.

Say you have a stage of life where you have to devote a lot of time to helping another. If you believe you have only a minimal number of years this might be difficult. But if you know that you are eternal, you'll know that you'll never run out of time. Spending a period of time helping another might help the big picture of your soul.

What I know has helped me with issues that relate to grief. It is possible to be certain about the existence of the afterlife in a way that goes beyond truisms.

My Dad died about seventeen months ago. In a way it was a relief when he died because he was suffering a lot (various physical problems). Since I was so certain of the afterlife when he died, I was relieved that he gained freedom from his suffering and was able to move on.

My Dad and I had baseball in common. About a week after he died I was meditating one night and I was shown a baseball bat. On the bat were the words "I love you." I believe this was a message from my Dad. I don't believe it was a hallucination because I have become very familiar with what spirit messages feel like.

Of course you can miss a person who has passed on, but it is nice when you "know" that he or she continues to exist as a spirit being.

rondele wrote on May 14^th, 2016 at 5:35pm:

<<What I know has helped me with issues that relate to grief. It is possible to be certain about the existence of the afterlife in a way that goes beyond truisms.>>

Albert, I understand your point and agree.  In my case the death of my parents was a blessing.  They lived a long life.  But there's a difference between feeling sadness and acceptance about the inevitable death of elderly parents and the emotions that would accompany the tragic death of a child.  It's not a feeling of fear, it's the feeling of loss that predominates. Not just the loss the parent has for the child, but the loss of life of someone at a young age.

Fear is built into our DNA as well as animals. Survival instinct is powerful and primal.  When I read about people like Bonhoeffer, I am so overtaken with the spiritual level he and others like him who have put personal fear aside to help others, even at the cost of their own life, that words escape me.  God bless them.

R

recoverer wrote on May 15^th, 2016 at 12:35pm:


"Be still and Know that I am God" from the Bible it means quiet, reflection or meditation on the Divine Being and his goodness.