Marek you really combined our divergent perspective, well done! I will always be fascinated by religious symbols and you presented one of the possible reasons why. If they are symbols,archetypes of our consciousness, they should have a profound effect when we dwell on them, even emotionally. I am happy at my end of the continuum in this discussion but I really admire your ability to grok all the extremes and come up with your own individual take.
I once took a first date to an exhibit of voodoo temples that was in Baltimore and represented the biggest exhibit of them in the US ever before. They had dozens of complete alters. Voodoo really scrambles the images, Jesus painted on rum bottles and all sorts of unusual pairing of symbols. I was blown away by it all. My date...not so much! It put our first meeting in a bit too exotic a setting for her and that was really all I needed to know! The fact that your girl can hang with your interest is a great sign! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Marek Reavis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Comment below: > > ** > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" > <curtisdeltablues@> wrote: > > > > "I've never authored a single thought. As if. Every thought comes > from > > where I know not of. Suddenly just there. Impossibly there, and so > > spendable, so vital. Manna pure and simple, I pick this sustenance > > up off the ground-state. We're all wandering Jews, eh?" > > > > Here you are being honest, you don't know where your thoughts come > > from. This is human creativity at work and it is a wonder! > > > > > > > That's God to me. An overwhelming giving of the earth to > > inheriting,> meeky me. > > > > > > He's not dallying on some distant throne with harping minions > > flitting> in the billows. > > > > > > He's here now -- in my face, my brain, my marrow. He's laughing > > > inside my atoms using my electrons like whirligigs. <Snip> > > > > And here are you saying that you know that "God" is the source of > your > > thoughts? I dig the poetry of it all but as an ontological claim it > > lacks uh, let's see...it lacks anything beyond a poetic notion. (not > > that there is anything wrong with that) > > > > Here is where it matters. When people claim to "know" that it is > > "God" who is feeding them thoughts. Perhaps we have a functioning > > personal mind under our conscious mind that is busy cranking this > > stuff out rather than a deity, what shall we call this part of our > > mind...oh I know an unconscious mind! > > > > > Each speck in space, each plink, plank and plunk, each twang in > the > > > silence is God's sparking. > > > > > > I cannot find non-Godness. > > > > What you can't find is your perception without using this filter > > overlay on your experience, interpreting everything this way. Want > > some REAL silence? Try actually just experiencing your silence > > without the belief overlay. > > > > Personally I think you are a creative human and I don't need an > > explanation that your thoughts are a result of any God. It is not > > that what your are writing isn't good, but I would expect a bit more > > from the creator of the universe. > > > **snip to end** > > Curtis, Edg, great material. Curtis, for what it's worth, let me > offer my take on this from my own theism. > > Basically, what you write re your own atheism is what I feel, too. > All the gods are in me, in consciousness, and some of the forms or > concepts of god just tweak my consciousness; stimulate my > consciousness that makes me feel good -- opens me up and charges me > somehow. I don't have either the ability or clarity of experience to > articulate it any better than that; and I can't (and don't) claim > that god or gods exist independently of consciousness. I do claim > that many of the forms and concepts that flow from the Indian, and > mostly Hindu traditions, just do a number on me that makes me keep > coming back for more. > > I'm more subdued curently, but for a good long time my puja > table/puja room just kept expanding like some Hindu Roccoco coral > reef with iteration upon iteration of shrines, ghee lamps, bells, > cloths, garlands, pictures, murtis, etc. My GF is Haitian and it > really freaked her out because she could only relate to it through > the lens of her childhood and cultural experience with voodoo. I've > tried to explain to her that there's nothing weird about what I do, > just some sort of compulsive behavior to stimulate particular nerve > endings -- that's my best guess as to what's going on. > > If there is any independent being outside of my consciousness who is > pleased by my behaviors, I can't say and don't claim; but the mental > and emotional "take" I get when I regard an image of Saraswati or > Ganapati or Shiva or Guru Dev is just so fine that it's good enough > for me. For me, the forms themselves rearrange my mentality and my > personality such that I cherish the change. Similarly, the mantra, > and the puja and the more I incoporate all that stuff into my > everyday, ongoing life the smoother, happier, stronger, better it all > seems to go. > > Basically, like many here, I'm an empiricist who goes around > scratchin' and sniffin' and going with what feels right to me. So > far, so good. > > Marek >
