Why do most of us bother with work, relationships. It just makes us more conditioned and more stuck in everydayness.
shareEnlightenment - https://youtu.be/pOUilsuZj1E
Oh how I love that song!
Btw,
What's the sound of one hand clapping?
Enlightenment
Don't know what it is.
I think most bother with work because they don't want to be homeless and relationships because its human nature to connect with others imo.
shareI've given this a lot of thought and the only thing that I think isn't futile in life, is knowing God.
shareWhat's your definition of god?
shareThe eternal creator. The great I Am. The God of the bible.
shareOw okay, you lost me then.
shareI'm not sure what you mean. Lost you?
shareI don't believe in god.
shareWhat do you believe?
shareI don't believe in god as an entity. God is not separate from us imo. We are all one. The self does not exist.
shareThat's an interesting perspective. How did you come to that belief?
shareExperiencing glimpses of enlightenment, being completely present. Meditation.
shareYou think the self doesn't exist? That's your idea of being enlightened?
If the self doesn't exist, do you exist?
sharefallacy of self-exclusion
who did the experiencing? who was being completely present?
who decided to meditate? who made the realization?
who posted about it?
you just swapped one irrational belief for another
The illusion of the self.
I am not saying I am enlightened.
Same fallacy.
It's an "illusion" yet it's required to identify what enlightened means? You can't leave YOU out of the process. It's inescapable. If you leave YOU at the door, YOU can never understand what YOU call "enlightened". The entire concept is invalid b/c it requires the very thing YOU think does not really exist. That's why this fallacy is also called "the stolen concept". YOU're using it to dismiss its very existence.
That's why the illusion of the self can be there with presence always in the background. That way you are not completely lost in conditioning like most people.
shareSame thing.
You can't run from it. Now you're judging others from this "illusion" perch called self? If Knish is an illusion, why would anyone care what you're saying? We're all one so why talk about "most people"? They're relying on self as much as you do to condemn the very notion of self. You have to maintain YOU to explain and justify and debate any of this. That's quite a responsibility for a so-called illusion. How can you possibly rely on an illusion?
It's like the classic example: "There are no absolutes!" while not realizing that you just uttered an absolute.
I am not condemning them, I understand it.
Just because it's impossible to completely live without the illusion of self doesn't mean that the self is not an illusion.
Me either, but if others do that's their business. I'm a longtime atheist.
shareNot this person I am conditioned to think I am. My name, my character, history etc.
That's why questions that come out of conditioning are not interesting to answer. Like what happens after I die? The I that I think that I am doesn't exist in the first place, so when what we call death happens the illusion of the self just stops.
(1 minute)
What if, instead of trying to find something in particular, you realize your purpose in life?
This way, you yourself witness what's unique about you rather than seeking to accomplish what everyone else deems to be achievable, at least in your mind.
There's no right or wrong here, only to fulfill your desire without being selfish about it and sincerely helping others through genuine concern and generosity.
Refrain from gathering answers within yourself. While happiness does come from the inside, any self-negativity must be dealt with beforehand. Let your actions on the outside influence who you are.
This method nullifies the ego, the conception of self. Motivation will not be driven by selfishness, but led by conviction towards refusal to do harm and commitment to do good.
Stick to these clear, simple terms to broaden your horizons and grant you the flexibility to live courageously. Never be afraid to express who you are.
When you believe in yourself, there is no doubt. Enjoy living life with certainty regarding your own goals and choices, whether that means being an ascetic practitioner who appreciates life with the bare minimum or simply living within your means.
German intellectual Heinrich Blücher came to reject both religion and science as sources of morality, and instead posed what may be interpreted as a classical republican conception of freedom, writing that "Everything we do involves an ethical and moral decision. We have to regain that freedom. We have believed for too long that we could be told what to do. They tried to tell us what to do on the authority of God; they tried to tell us what to do on the authority of science, and both no longer hold. We have to make up our own minds as to what we shall do and what we will do. That is the essence of freedom. It is not a freedom that is at hand. It is a freedom that has to be established, that has to be kept, and that has to be developed, or it vanishes like thin air." (paragraph 37, lines 6 - 16)
He is quoted because I know you place morality outside of God, which is fine. The world would be boring if we were all the same.
Bard College:
http://www.bard.edu/bluecher/lectures/academic_free/academic_freedom.php
~~/o/
Thanks for your reply.
Isn't a personal purpose in life just another form of conditioning? Why would each one of us have a personal purpose?
The nature of enlightenment is an introspective one, so actions on the outside should be influenced by the inside, not the other way around.
The same thing with morality and ethics, an enlightened being has no need to think or talk about morality or ethics, that all comes natural. There is no mind to make up.
When are we not conditioned? Even before the time we are born, there are influences outside of our control; where we're concieved, the culture that shapes us, our parent's background and skills plus other adjacent values to be anticipated.
The reason why purpose matters in this foray is because it's about creating our identity. Hence, beckoning the nature of our existence. By even asking a question, there must be an answer, unless it is rhetorical.
I believe outside and inside factors go both ways. Starting on the outside looking in prevents approaching this dilemma through a subjective lens or a self-centered framework. This in turn (being subjective), would undermine the objectivity necessary to discern the changes in our development during the initial stages of this continually refined process.
Do we build ourselves up like onion layers to recognize enlightenment, or do we start over from scratch completely as fresh military recruits would at a cadet training academy, reforming towards new ideals?
Edit: (10-3-2019)
You could be arguing the case for nihilism - that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value, asserting that morality does not exist at all.
~~/o/