These words of Winston Niles Rumfoord reflect a recurring theme of
Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse V: becuase
something was ordered to happen, it happened and it is remembered, it
"shall always be here". Vonnegut's characters take the view that
because an event is a singular, unique point of space time,and thus
the event is like a statue or picture in reality that always occurs.
Taking other cues from Buddhists, Kant and Einstein, it can be
further stated that time is a relative phenomenon, which when
experienced by our limited mental faculties is linear (like the earth
is flat to the eye). When one is a Tramafoldorian (omniscient Alien
race) or an Awakened Buddha or a Quantum physicist one sees time and
space for what they are, a point in an infinity, and since there are
no boundries, no beginning no end, everything that happens/happened
always exists and will exist. This theme is also present in Borges'
obsession with Pascal's "Infinite circle".
Our life is not purposeless nor meaningless, its just there is no
purpose outside of its own existence, outside of our very own selves.
Thus the meaning is within ourselves: discover the meaning, discover
the infinite. We are part of an infinite circle. This very moment
and our selves is the production of everything else and we are all
existing in one Giant harmonious infinite circle which only seems
inharmonious to our own mental cognition, a cognition necessarily
limited by our dependence on instinct and reason.
We existed, do exist, and shall exist because we were, we are, and we will be.
We are part and parcel of one infinite, constant, and mysterious event
that we are only partially aware of. Our eyes can only see in front
of us, but a great deal, the rest of existence-known and unknown, is
left out.
Each instant is forever.
Nothing is lost,
everything is found.
Search far enough within
and you will find infinitude.
Search far enough without
and you will find
the same goddamn thing.
"Such as it was
such as it is,
such as it will be".
Greetings from college park on a Saturday afternoon.
I have some thoughts I wanted to share regarding your previous email.
A. Way to express yourself.
B. It seems obvious to me to say that right now is because of everything before it. Its articulating circularity. Right? Maybe I just happen to be an omniscient alien from planet Gnardon, but it just seems like..no shit right now is occurring because moments occurred before this one and the one before and so on backwards and forwards 'til the cows come home. Or left home. This leads me to C.
G. In what capacity does the infinite tie into meaningful existence? What I mean is that..howcome..as soon as the infinite is recognized..and its recognized internally..does life have meaning? Surely a sick person who realizes that he or she is a part of the infinite circle will not be comforted by this realization. On the contrary. That realization for a sick person could actually cause bitterness because he or she will not be there to experience it for as long as others.
N. I think that there is a disconnect between "cosmic consciousness" or "awakened dharma" and the generally obvious realization that experience, time, now, then, here, there is an infinite and immaculate happening. The knowledge, or the intuition that would lead one to understand the nature of space-time, or time, or space, or experience, or existence, makes one wise. Or wiser than a pawn. Or wiser than someone who isn't paying attention. However, the peace of mind that an "awakened dharma" or however you want to call it, comes from a deeper intra-personal understanding. Like a realization of oneself as opposed to a realization of everything outside of oneself.
A. It's the relationship between understanding the infinite and in turn, intrinsically, simultaneously finding purpose or meaning because of that...thats what I want to talk about.
R. If I have not been making the most sense here, or have come off as presumptuous or arrogant in anyway, that wasn't my intention. I was just trying to stimulate dialogue between two vessels that deserve each others attention once a week. Additionally, I'm not trying to argue. I am trying to dialogue. Enlighten me, Spock. And I shall beam you up.
Hey man. First of all I am honored that you took the time to read my
writing, digest it and give it a well thought out reply. Thank you.
Second. I took a bit of poetic liscense in it and I’m aware that the
logic behind it might not all fit together, I kind of sent it out on
an impulse on top of that.
Third. Mostly these are just descriptions of experiences had outside
of my logical mind that different writiers, philosophers, and
scientists attempt to communicate. My understanding and enthusiasm
for “infinite circles” comes from intuitional experiences during
meditation. Thus in the words of the Chinese, its like a finger
pointing to the moon, no experience except for a symbol can be derived
from the finger, you must turn your attention to the moon.
But ill try to answer your questions and comments, and clarify my own
ideas to the best of my ability.
“In what capacity does the infinite tie into meaningful existence?
What I mean is that..howcome..as soon as the infinite is
recognized..and its recognized internally..does life have meaning?
Surely a sick person who realizes that he or she is a part of the
infinite circle will not be comforted by this realization. On the
contrary. That realization for a sick person could actually cause
bitterness because he or she will not be there to experience it for as
long as others.”
First we have to define meaningful existence. What is “meaning”.
Generally its thought of as the reason for something, the evidence.
Why something is the way it is, or the cause for some effect. And
where is the reason why, the cause of some effect? Cause is an
experienced phenomenon that precedes or produces the effect. And this
phenomenon is found through the senses, it can be proved and verified
empirically as an isolated phenomenan, a fact, if it is to be
considered a “true” meaning. Thus it is data. So the data lays in
experience. This verification of meaning through causality is also
known as logic. Now the question “what is the meaning of the universe,
or our existence?”. Well our existence is the result of everything
else’s existence ala Darwin/evolutionary theory. We are looking for a
meaning of existence, something that produced and preceeded all
existence. So then you are asking to verify the cause of existence, so
this thing necessarily does not exist in the same sphere as our sense
experience, but created the experience. But since this lies before
experience, it cannot be verified with logic because logic deals with
empirical experience, but this must preceed empirical experience since
this phenomenon created it. So logic, or reason cannot be used to
describe or experience it since it’s the world that preceeds the world
of our senses, or underlies it.”. To discover the world that proceeds
sense experience, you must use another way of verification, you can
not use your senses. This is where intuition comes to play. Now we
must define intuition.
Intuition is finding out not through cause and effect, but knowing or
learning something outside of the rational mind, through a different
capacity of mind. For example making a decision that you are
convinced is right but not knowing why, not having any logicalanswer
to support your intuitiojn. It is based on feeling. You feel it is
right. Meditation, Yoga and Tai Chi are intuitional because you don’t
learn them through reason or accumulation of facts, IE how to meditate
and what happens when you do, but through meditating, through feeling
it with your whole body/self and opening/relaxing body self into the
flow. Same with drumming, dancing, basically learning anything.
Except in meditation the goal is to experience your self outside of
your personality, identity, history, or “I” feeling. When you relax
yourself or open yourself up enough you realize that there are no
barriers between you and the moment, you and everything else. And you
actually feel that is all one, everything is complete, whole, and
because of the absence of temporality in this mindstate, infinite.
And this realization only comes about through the sssrrender of the
subject/object mimnd, the sense of self. So if so much exists outside
of your sense of self, what is the worry about death? Your ego may
not allow this realization, but at least it is chastened a bit and you
have another perspective to arm yourself with, so to speak.
You learn that you really are everything else and everything else is
one. You can learn it based on the mountains of evidence/data we have
that points to that fact, but this would not change your attitude or
offer any comforted to the sick person. Or as you said, it would
offer very cold comfort. Or you can meditate and open your self,
become more intuitional, relax yourself into the flow of your
“gestalt” and see that your sick body/mind is just a very shallow part
of yourself, but your real self is a oneness that pervades the whole
universe, and may even be deeper than that. And this is what happens
when you cultivate your intuition, you have a “peak experience” where
you step outside of your limited “I” and become one with everything,
or the “gestalt”. Intuition is awareness of the objective flow of the
“IT”, a merging of our subject with the object of our body’s
intelligence, and the worlds intelligence. Reason is an argument.
The sick person will be comforted and ultimately rejuvenated (his/her
perspective will shift drastically) by the awarness of the deeper
self, not the argument that such a self exists.
“ I think that there is a disconnect between "cosmic consciousness" or
"awakened dharma" and the generally obvious realization that
experience, time, now, then, here, there is an infinite and immaculate
happening. The knowledge, or the intuition that would lead one to
understand the nature of space-time, or time, or space, or experience,
or existence, makes one wise. Or wiser than a pawn. Or wiser than
someone who isn't paying attention. However, the peace of mind that
an "awakened dharma" or however you want to call it, comes from a
deeper intra-personal understanding. Like a realization of oneself as
opposed to a realization of everything outside of oneself. “
Well the intellectual understanding of the nature of experience and
the intuitional understanding are very similar when described but
wholly different when experienced. Again one is a fact, or a
collection of data. The other is an intuitional experience. One is
saying that yeah, it makes sense, the other is seeing the world from
the perspective of no boundries. One is knowledge, the other is
Wisdom. There is a saying that knowledge gains and wisdom loses.
With knowledge you gain a fact, the fact that the universe is not
linear as we are wont to see the universe. With wisdom you re-orient
yourself, you empty out all your facts, history, self-consciousness,
your complexes, so you can see the world clearer - from the
intuitional perspective of “don’t think, feel” as Bruce Lee says. Of
course this is extremely difficult to maintain 24/7 and sometimes the
thinking impulse is necessary, but you can make the intuitional
impulse stronger and stronger, so you go more and more with the flow
of things, operating out of a different sphere. And this is the
practice of meditation. It is an exercise to make your mind more
intuitional, to become more subtle, and queit so the flow is clearer
and the chatter is softer. There are anthropological and
philosophical reasons why this intuitional wisdom is associated with
religion, and terms such as “cosmic consciousness” and “awakened
dharma”, but the crux of the matter is that it is a wholly
psychological shifting of perspective. Thus when the Buddha was
asked, “what are you, a god, demon, angel?” he replied, “I am awake.”
writing, digest it and give it a well thought out reply. Thank you.
Second. I took a bit of poetic liscense in it and I’m aware that the
logic behind it might not all fit together, I kind of sent it out on
an impulse on top of that.
Third. Mostly these are just descriptions of experiences had outside
of my logical mind that different writiers, philosophers, and
scientists attempt to communicate. My understanding and enthusiasm
for “infinite circles” comes from intuitional experiences during
meditation. Thus in the words of the Chinese, its like a finger
pointing to the moon, no experience except for a symbol can be derived
from the finger, you must turn your attention to the moon.
But ill try to answer your questions and comments, and clarify my own
ideas to the best of my ability.
“In what capacity does the infinite tie into meaningful existence?
What I mean is that..howcome..as soon as the infinite is
recognized..and its recognized internally..does life have meaning?
Surely a sick person who realizes that he or she is a part of the
infinite circle will not be comforted by this realization. On the
contrary. That realization for a sick person could actually cause
bitterness because he or she will not be there to experience it for as
long as others.”
First we have to define meaningful existence. What is “meaning”.
Generally its thought of as the reason for something, the evidence.
Why something is the way it is, or the cause for some effect. And
where is the reason why, the cause of some effect? Cause is an
experienced phenomenon that precedes or produces the effect. And this
phenomenon is found through the senses, it can be proved and verified
empirically as an isolated phenomenan, a fact, if it is to be
considered a “true” meaning. Thus it is data. So the data lays in
experience. This verification of meaning through causality is also
known as logic. Now the question “what is the meaning of the universe,
or our existence?”. Well our existence is the result of everything
else’s existence ala Darwin/evolutionary theory. We are looking for a
meaning of existence, something that produced and preceeded all
existence. So then you are asking to verify the cause of existence, so
this thing necessarily does not exist in the same sphere as our sense
experience, but created the experience. But since this lies before
experience, it cannot be verified with logic because logic deals with
empirical experience, but this must preceed empirical experience since
this phenomenon created it. So logic, or reason cannot be used to
describe or experience it since it’s the world that preceeds the world
of our senses, or underlies it.”. To discover the world that proceeds
sense experience, you must use another way of verification, you can
not use your senses. This is where intuition comes to play. Now we
must define intuition.
Intuition is finding out not through cause and effect, but knowing or
learning something outside of the rational mind, through a different
capacity of mind. For example making a decision that you are
convinced is right but not knowing why, not having any logicalanswer
to support your intuitiojn. It is based on feeling. You feel it is
right. Meditation, Yoga and Tai Chi are intuitional because you don’t
learn them through reason or accumulation of facts, IE how to meditate
and what happens when you do, but through meditating, through feeling
it with your whole body/self and opening/relaxing body self into the
flow. Same with drumming, dancing, basically learning anything.
Except in meditation the goal is to experience your self outside of
your personality, identity, history, or “I” feeling. When you relax
yourself or open yourself up enough you realize that there are no
barriers between you and the moment, you and everything else. And you
actually feel that is all one, everything is complete, whole, and
because of the absence of temporality in this mindstate, infinite.
And this realization only comes about through the sssrrender of the
subject/object mimnd, the sense of self. So if so much exists outside
of your sense of self, what is the worry about death? Your ego may
not allow this realization, but at least it is chastened a bit and you
have another perspective to arm yourself with, so to speak.
You learn that you really are everything else and everything else is
one. You can learn it based on the mountains of evidence/data we have
that points to that fact, but this would not change your attitude or
offer any comforted to the sick person. Or as you said, it would
offer very cold comfort. Or you can meditate and open your self,
become more intuitional, relax yourself into the flow of your
“gestalt” and see that your sick body/mind is just a very shallow part
of yourself, but your real self is a oneness that pervades the whole
universe, and may even be deeper than that. And this is what happens
when you cultivate your intuition, you have a “peak experience” where
you step outside of your limited “I” and become one with everything,
or the “gestalt”. Intuition is awareness of the objective flow of the
“IT”, a merging of our subject with the object of our body’s
intelligence, and the worlds intelligence. Reason is an argument.
The sick person will be comforted and ultimately rejuvenated (his/her
perspective will shift drastically) by the awarness of the deeper
self, not the argument that such a self exists.
“ I think that there is a disconnect between "cosmic consciousness" or
"awakened dharma" and the generally obvious realization that
experience, time, now, then, here, there is an infinite and immaculate
happening. The knowledge, or the intuition that would lead one to
understand the nature of space-time, or time, or space, or experience,
or existence, makes one wise. Or wiser than a pawn. Or wiser than
someone who isn't paying attention. However, the peace of mind that
an "awakened dharma" or however you want to call it, comes from a
deeper intra-personal understanding. Like a realization of oneself as
opposed to a realization of everything outside of oneself. “
Well the intellectual understanding of the nature of experience and
the intuitional understanding are very similar when described but
wholly different when experienced. Again one is a fact, or a
collection of data. The other is an intuitional experience. One is
saying that yeah, it makes sense, the other is seeing the world from
the perspective of no boundries. One is knowledge, the other is
Wisdom. There is a saying that knowledge gains and wisdom loses.
With knowledge you gain a fact, the fact that the universe is not
linear as we are wont to see the universe. With wisdom you re-orient
yourself, you empty out all your facts, history, self-consciousness,
your complexes, so you can see the world clearer - from the
intuitional perspective of “don’t think, feel” as Bruce Lee says. Of
course this is extremely difficult to maintain 24/7 and sometimes the
thinking impulse is necessary, but you can make the intuitional
impulse stronger and stronger, so you go more and more with the flow
of things, operating out of a different sphere. And this is the
practice of meditation. It is an exercise to make your mind more
intuitional, to become more subtle, and queit so the flow is clearer
and the chatter is softer. There are anthropological and
philosophical reasons why this intuitional wisdom is associated with
religion, and terms such as “cosmic consciousness” and “awakened
dharma”, but the crux of the matter is that it is a wholly
psychological shifting of perspective. Thus when the Buddha was
asked, “what are you, a god, demon, angel?” he replied, “I am awake.”
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