“I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm,
to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow,
to feel inspired,
to fathom the power,
to witness the beauty,
to bathe in the fountain,
to swing on a spiral,
to swing on a spiral,
to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human.”
-Tool (Lateralus)
Is meditation spiritual? Is it more spiritual than giving a gift to someone you love? Or better yet, someone you don’t even know, or will never know you. Is a monk sitting around in a mosk somewhere helping anybody in any tangible way? They aren’t feeding anyone, they aren’t even exchanging ideas with anyone… they’re achieving inner peace, that’s great for them, but it has no function for society. It helps no one.
I believe true spirituality has a function. I believe true spirituality has a greater purpose in improving the spirits of others. And if our spirit is really nothing more than our psyche, our mental state at a time, then functional spirituality has to do with improving the mental conditions of others, which is directly related to their poverty levels (ie: let’s get our shit together and feed our starving brothers and sisters in Africa), among other things of course.
The notion that our ‘spirit’ somehow exists separately from our mind I’ve come to see as one of the greatest follies of our species evolution of thought. The greatest moments are always those of complete union between body and mind, working together. Your mind responding to all sensory (bodily) input, awareness, those almost transcendant times when I feel whole, complete, unseparated. The complete inegration of body and mind, as one whole being, as it was meant to be.
“Over thinking, over analyzing,
separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, leaving opportunities behind.”
Maybe this is why people have such a history of feeling dispotic and lonely. We’re yearning for this spirit, this nothingness that only leaves you continuing to search, when what we could be doing is forming connections with other people, exchanging ideas, one of the ultimate acts of functional spirituality. Perhaps once we stop searching for the spirit, we can embrace the physical, the reality, the present.
The only true physical reality is the present. The past and future only exist as thoughts in our minds. History and possibilities. The present is the only physical reality. When my mind becomes lost in the past or future, I ignore the present and end up DOING NOTHING… being invisible. Achieving nothing. Serving no spiritual purpose.
In my subjective experience, feeling more present in your body (not feeling like a separate entity that exists somewhere outside or inside of yourself) and more present in the physical world overall creates a more healthy perspective and a more healthy method of thought and of interaction with others.
in regards to your thoughts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya4VM_qzBww
Wow.. inspiring video, thanks. There are very few things in it I disagree with, really, but it doesn’t at all address what I was talking about in my post:
Is the ‘spirit’ of a human a quality that arises from their physicality, or is it some non-physical entity?
There’s no “mystical vibration” we have to be “tuned into”, that’s all I’m saying. We just need to be loving, rational, and human.
for anyone interested, a paragraph I wrote but ultimately cut out of this article for rhythmic purposes:
“Our physical brains have the astounding capability to decieve us. Through drug use, meditation, near-death experiences, or even just practice, we can come fervently to believe in a separate spirit that exists outside ourselves, and we furthur imagine actually being outside our body, looking down on ourselves. The ultimate separation of body and mind. However convincing these experiences are, without proof of their objective validity (which no proponent has provided), they only serve to reinforce the power our physical brains can have over our subjective perception.”
I feel that the essence of your (undressed) question can be scientifically/thoroughly addressed by this presentation: http://www.galacticroundtable.com/video/quantum-communication-dvd-part
You say that our physical brains have the astounding capability to decieve us. But do our brains really deceive us, or does an aspect of our own shadowy consciousness (unconscious) influence our conscious thought processes? Consider the work of C.G. Jung.
Also, have you heard of the work of Dr. Rick Straussman (DMT: Spirit Molecule)? Perhaps it is via these experiences which you mention (drug use, meditation, near-death experiences) which bring us closer to our True Self… the ultimate INTEGRATION of body and mind?
In the quantum communcation video, they take a quote from Einstien admitting there is a ‘spirit’ behind things, but then go on to assign properties to that ‘spirit’ that Einstein never intended. Einsteins veiw of spirituality and religion is well known. He, basically, believed God was the Sum of the Universe and all of it’s laws.
There are many theories, like the one presented in that video, about how science (usually quantum science) might tie into spirituality, but always remember that if something substantive is found, it will be just that, substantive. Physical. As of now there is no evidence for any of it.
I believe in collective consciousness and it’s power. What each separate consciousness is thinking affects how that person acts, and the collective force of all of these consciousnesses can have great impact.
“do our brains really deceive us, or does an aspect of our own shadowy consciousness (unconscious) influence our conscious thought processes?”
Both! They are the same thing. The out of body (separation of body and mind in a literal sense) episodes I was describing are, I think, manifestations of our culturally programmed desire to experience a separate spirit identity from ourselves (like I mentioned in the post, that we continue to search for, but can never observe).
We need to realize that we ARE OURSELVES, not some voice in the back of our head giving directions. Not some mystical consiousness that floats in and around our body. The mind arises as a transcendant property of neurons firing in the brain. It is only our body. There is nothing that needs integrating unless we separate it, which we do, constantly, through baseless supernatural claims.
I believe there is a world revolution coming. It isn’t based on supernaturality, it’s based on technological growth, growing love, growing capabilities, growing knowledge, growing connectedness (internet, airplanes, translation softwares) and I see it as inevitable just by looking at historical accelerating trends in progress.
Anyways. I hope I don’t come off as arrogant. I have nothing but love and respect for you man. We’re all on the same side.
Einstein also died believing that there was a unified field, but never “proofed” it… I believe todays quantum research is finally proving what Albert envisioned AND affirming precisely what mystics around the world throughout human history have been saying… we are all the same thing.
Perhaps all the “cradle to grave” pervasive media distraction/social engineering that you expose, in your most excellent videos, does a massive amount of separating (dividing & conquering) our natural-neural integrity… as such that experiences like ritual-healing drug use (i.e. ayahuasca or peyote ceremonies) serve to ::help:: the subconscious mind RE-integrate that which has been deliberately splintered by… for lack of a better term here… the Matrix.
I see that you take a rather rigid stance on what “is”… to which i feel obligated to inform you: scientific rationalism is a dogma just like religious fundamentalism. Where is the equilibrium? The study and ultimate understanding of human consciousness is not supernaturality but, i feel, the very means to helping us (collectively) understand how we ended up in the predicament we find ourselves.
You do not come off as arrogant, but i thank you for the disclaimer… and i must apologize if and when i come off as such… for it is inevitable. ;P But in the end like you sed: nothing but Love & Respect for you, my brother.
“To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; To put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; To put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; And to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.” – Confucius
No, what I was saying is that they misrepresented what einstien was saying, not that whatever he envisioned hadn’t been proved. His definition of spirit is taken out of context in the video. That’s all. It’s no biggie. I do it in my videos, the person who made it was trying to make a point. I did it with Tool’s lyrics in this article.
As far as us all being the same thing. We know that already! Science proved it a long time ago. We’re electrons, protons, quarks, gluons, and if string theory is correct, any of those is just a single string, vibrating at a diferent frequency. We’re all just a symphony of sub atomic particles.
I don’t doubt the mental benifits of meditation, or even drug use in some cases (DMT is very interesting.. never tried it myself). I just don’t assign a supernatural explanation for these experiences or mental improvemnts when one isn’t needed.
You say scientific rationalism is dogma, but where is it? There is no bible of science. That argument is a completely fallacious straw man. Science is by nature, anti-dogma. It is the search for objective truth.
Of course, we are all limited to our own subjective experience, which is why repetition is necessary. When an experiment produces the same subjective experience nearly 100% of the time, that’s as close as we can come to assigning objective truths. These certain subjective experiences, that are true for everyone, are how I define facts, how I define what ‘is’ (do you find that definition rigid?). And finding these ‘facts’ is the goal of science.
These things that are true for everyone are also the key to unlocking the predicament we find ourselves in, as you put it. We need as many ‘facts’ as we can, so that we can make the best decisions.
Firstly, what is your definition of “supernatural”?
“You say scientific rationalism is dogma… That argument is a completely fallacious straw man. Science is by nature, anti-dogma. It is the search for objective truth.”
To paraphrase Goethe, in response: None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are infallible.
I would just caution you to not put modern science on a pedestal…there are many areas/boundaries it will not cross. Please see the work of Nikola Tesla, Graham Hancock, Brian O’Leary, Steven Greer for a few examples. Like you sed: “never shy away from the truth even if it scares you.”
think about this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDRG9ZpzoX4
Peace
g
Just two last things. I wasn’t talking about modern, money-driven science. I was talking about science, in pure Carl Sagan-like terms, which is by definition, anti-dogma. Dogma is truths that never change, science is about ever changing truth. They are on two opposite ends of the spectrum. “Never shy away from the truth, even if it scares you” is the mindset of any real scientist, and there is no area of research that is off grounds to science. I don’t believe I am infallible, I just haven’t seen any evidence of the supernatural.
The second thing is how much I would LOVE to see evidence of the supernatural. It’s not like I go around dismissing claims cause it makes me feel good. I wish we lived in a world with psychics and channeling and spiritual healers and out of body experiences. The evidence just isn’t there, unfortunately.
And if and when I turn out to be wrong about some things I say, I’ll joyfully accept the change, because I’ll know that I have more knowledge.
But hey, I think there’s one thing we can all agree on, we need more love, in general, everywhere all the time. That’s what this global awakening is about.
I’d also be careful about lionizing Sagan… in the end he was a man of the status quo… he would not go into areas (taboo) regardless if he smoked dope or not. Hawkings is also put on a pedestal.
Modern science IS $-driven science… and it is a gatekeeper… it r-e-f-u-s-e-s to change/evolve in many aspects. Like the Catholic church.
If you truly believe that modern science (which again is $-driven science) will not go places i HIGHLY recommend you look carefully into the works of the men i mentioned earlier… many of whom left the orthodoxy of academic science because it (like a religious institution) forbade them from exploring certain subjects.
Again, brother, i humbly ask for your definition of” supernatural”… as it seems to be a sticking point here.
O_o
http://www.amazon.com/Supernatural-Meetings-Ancient-Teachers-Mankind/dp/1932857400
You’re right. I said that modern science is money driven and imperfect. Sagan wasn’t perfect or especially anti-establishment, I just use him as a reference because he wrote beautifully on the subject of what true science is. He really got it, and he helped me to really get it.
Of the people you named, I’ve only looked into Tesla, and he was a true scientist.
One reason I advocate the Venus Project is so that ALL lines of research can be pursued, and we can know more truth.
My definition of supernatural? Ummm, the best explanation I can give you for the distinction I’m trying to make is in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2upDm-xFqMo
but things like knowing the future, talking to the dead, reading minds, ghosts, basically any reported phenomena that when held up to scrutiny, falls apart. That’s supernatural. If you could indisputably prove that you talked to someone dead, the same way you can indisputably prove that water boils at a certain temperature, for example, by experiment, then it’s not supernatural anymore. It’s natural. It’s real.
Perhaps supernatural is, in fact, natural – it is merely that which is yet undiscovered or in the case of $-driven science: willfully ignored because it would undermine the paradigm of the status quo
some things probably are, some aren’t. won’t know until we humans investigate. and i’m excited to see what we learn.
I too have unwavering zeal for what is unfolding.
btw, you might find this a fascinating exploration:
http://www.amazon.com/Supernatural-Meetings-Ancient-Teachers-Mankind/dp/1932857400