Week 16 CHAT/PREDICTIONS

[UnbornBuddha]

Well that's a bummer YDK, It will be nice to hear others!

The lonely shepherd instrumental I want it!

[timeless]

Originally Posted by Godcomplex

Well that's a bummer YDK, It will be nice to hear others!

The lonely shepherd instrumental I want it!

What are you beliefs when it comes to God, afterlife etc?

[UnbornBuddha]

Originally Posted by timeless

What are you beliefs when it comes to God, afterlife etc?

That is a loaded question and nowadays I take the stance of Confucius, who basically stated "what is the usage of speaking on heavenly matters when on our own earth matter (life) is disordered". But, I'm feeling particularly chatty today so I'll humor you.

Let me state first and foremost, that I don't see God in the conventional light as most do, I don't see him as a person or a thing, or something outside of us.
In other words, I neither believe nor not believe in this concept of God. All words that point to God are false, even if they are true. Nothing can describe this "concept of God". God to me, and to most mystics who have experienced God do not see God as good nor bad. If God was good that puts him in the world of duality, versus evil. And that which opposes evil eventually merges with it to some degree, good exists in relationship to evil, so that which is good is relatively at some degree evil. Thus, I don't really care for associations such as "God, or the creator". I don't believe God created us in his image, or any of that nonsense. To assert that, implies that God has an image, and he can be grasped however slightly to our mortal minds. Rather, there is no seperation between Heaven, Earth, and man, what naturalists call Tian, Di, Ren, 天地人. I have more to say, but that is the gist of it. Now as for our relationship to God, God is but a word, a word that without one's faith in it means little, why? Because what is called God cannot be contextualized into any form, including language, or even a subtler process such as an idea, thought, or a transient part such as the figment of our imagination.

As for the afterlife, I do believe in the afterlife, it is a basic principle in Nature that nothing fully dies, it simply changes, Therefore, I do not envision myself going into this lush paradise when I perish, instead I will simply be carried away by the current of life into something else, wherever that may be, it matters not really. If one is not afraid, death becomes a joyful experience, one that one welcomes, just like moving out from one's apartment. Ultimately, I don't foresee that any remnant of that which I am right now, which is also fluctuation from moment to moment mind you, will remain intact. Instead, I will be assimilated back into the whole, and depending on the cultivation of my awareness with my overall relationship with the nature, which implies the whole fabric of space and time and beyond, then i can either return to the place before I was born, before I had any concept of anything whatsoever, in other words embodying everything and yet nothing all separately and yet at the same time. For similar ideas, one can look into mystics and what they had to say, some more commonly known mystics include Meister Eckhart, John the Cross, Bankei, Hui Neng, Zhuang Zi, and countless others. Essentially, I don't ascribe to eternalists view of things, that you will die and live forever in this static state, nor do I ascribe to nihilistic ideas, of nothing. Because in reality, something that is nothing is still something, this is still trapped in the dual world of comparative relationships that binds man into a life of servitude to polarity, good vs bad, heaven vs earth, man vs women. There is no vs. and one can sugar coat it maybe with the word and in between, but that too fails to convey or transcend into the vastness of the beyond, that the ever expanding empty universe points to. That is the gist I suppose.

[YDK]

Originally Posted by Godcomplex

That is a loaded question and nowadays I take the stance of Confucius, who basically stated "what is the usage of speaking on heavenly matters when on our own earth matter (life) is disordered". But, I'm feeling particularly chatty today so I'll humor you.

Let me state first and foremost, that I don't see God in the conventional light as most do, I don't see him as a person or a thing, or something outside of us.
In other words, I neither believe nor not believe in this concept of God. All words that point to God are false, even if they are true. Nothing can describe this "concept of God". God to me, and to most mystics who have experienced God do not see God as good nor bad. If God was good that puts him in the world of duality, versus evil. And that which opposes evil eventually merges with it to some degree, good exists in relationship to evil, so that which is good is relatively at some degree evil. Thus, I don't really care for associations such as "God, or the creator". I don't believe God created us in his image, or any of that nonsense. To assert that, implies that God has an image, and he can be grasped however slightly to our mortal minds. Rather, there is no seperation between Heaven, Earth, and man, what naturalists call Tian, Di, Ren, 天地人. I have more to say, but that is the gist of it. Now as for our relationship to God, God is but a word, a word that without one's faith in it means little, why? Because what is called God cannot be contextualized into any form, including language, or even a subtler process such as an idea, thought, or a transient part such as the figment of our imagination.

As for the afterlife, I do believe in the afterlife, it is a basic principle in Nature that nothing fully dies, it simply changes, Therefore, I do not envision myself going into this lush paradise when I perish, instead I will simply be carried away by the current of life into something else, wherever that may be, it matters not really. If one is not afraid, death becomes a joyful experience, one that one welcomes, just like moving out from one's apartment. Ultimately, I don't foresee that any remnant of that which I am right now, which is also fluctuation from moment to moment mind you, will remain intact. Instead, I will be assimilated back into the whole, and depending on the cultivation of my awareness with my overall relationship with the nature, which implies the whole fabric of space and time and beyond, then i can either return to the place before I was born, before I had any concept of anything whatsoever, in other words embodying everything and yet nothing all separately and yet at the same time. For similar ideas, one can look into mystics and what they had to say, some more commonly known mystics include Meister Eckhart, John the Cross, Bankei, Hui Neng, Zhuang Zi, and countless others. Essentially, I don't ascribe to eternalists view of things, that you will die and live forever in this static state, nor do I ascribe to nihilistic ideas, of nothing. Because in reality, something that is nothing is still something, this is still trapped in the dual world of comparative relationships that binds man into a life of servitude to polarity, good vs bad, heaven vs earth, man vs women. There is no vs. and one can sugar coat it maybe with the word and in between, but that too fails to convey or transcend into the vastness of the beyond, that the ever expanding empty universe points to. That is the gist I suppose.

This is the closest I can come to a visual explanation of what/how I think of God, no single likeness or meaning and no real "words" that he's gonna come to us and say its right or wrong.
When we die we don't just disappear, energy doesn't just go away it transfers to somethin else as you said. Life will always go on it just won't always be in a way that we perceive it to be alive

[timeless]

@Godcomplex enjoyed your answer, always kind of wondered because of your name and writing etc.

@YDK said it best. Energy always transfers. I always felt as if when one dies, someone of significant importance to you(loved one, friend, parent etc) gains your energy when you die. Each person is different when it comes to strength and everything pertaining to us persisting through life.

Here's to weed.

[YDK]

Originally Posted by timeless

@Godcomplex enjoyed your answer, always kind of wondered because of your name and writing etc.

@YDK said it best. Energy always transfers. I always felt as if when one dies, someone of significant importance to you(loved one, friend, parent etc) gains your energy when you die. Each person is different when it comes to strength and everything pertaining to us persisting through life.

Here's to weed.

It would make sense, with all the family and close friends that have died over the years I feel stronger mentally and emotionally, I feel more equipped to deal with death compared to most of the people I associate with

[UnbornBuddha]

Originally Posted by YDK

This is the closest I can come to a visual explanation of what/how I think of God, no single likeness or meaning and no real "words" that he's gonna come to us and say its right or wrong.
When we die we don't just disappear, energy doesn't just go away it transfers to somethin else as you said. Life will always go on it just won't always be in a way that we perceive it to be alive

Yes life on earth is simply is reflection from the cosmic mirror. Our neurons being compared to stars and such.

Also we know very little of the universe, in many ways ancient people of the past knew a lot more.

[YDK]

Originally Posted by Godcomplex

Well that's a bummer YDK, It will be nice to hear others!

The lonely shepherd instrumental I want it!

I actually have two in the works but not sure if I'll get them done in time for my audition to expire but I'm trying lol

I don't believe I'm familiar with the lonely shepherd though?