--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote:
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "nelsonriddle2001" <nelsonriddle2001@>
> wrote:
> >
> > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "compost1uk" <compost1uk@> wrote:
> > >
> > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "nelsonriddle2001"
> > > <nelsonriddle2001@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "wgm4u" <wgm4u@> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > <snippus interruptus>
> > > > > > > It should be obvious to anyone who has spent some
> > > > > > > time here that we do not all live in the same reality.
> > > > > > > The frequency -- and the *vehemence* -- of the never-
> > > > > > > ending arguments about what "Reality" is should clue
> > > > > > > us in to the fact that we are all seeing different
> > > > > > > realities.
> > > > sipp,,
> > > > >
> > > > > Suggesting that this person's reality is Reality
> > > > > is to suggest that there is only *One* Reality.
> > > > > And sorry, but I'm not buyin' that one...
> > > > >
> > > > It would seem that there must be as many realities as there
> > > > are people for no two can have the same view point as in I am
> > > > shorter than you so you have a higher view etc.
> > > > Given that each of us has a different history,nothing will be
> > > > seen quite the same. Like the immigration survey in CA- 70
> > > > percent said "no es problema seriosa.
> > >
> > > But Nelson - why does that add up to "many realities"? Why not
> > > just "multiple perspectives on the same, one, reality"?
> > >
> > > If I see you in the distance, I see only one side of you. That
> > > doesn't mean I don't see *you*: It just means my perception is
> > > incomplete.
> > >
> > > If, at the same time, someone is gazing at your other side -
> > > does that mean we are blessed with TWO Nelson Riddles?
> >
> > I would hope not,,
>
> *That* is the reaction I am most fascinated by.
>
> > You are right- multiple views of the same reality like the blind
> > men and the elephant- each found the elephant to be, for them, a
> > different discovery.
>
> My point is that my experiences along the spiritual
> path have convinced me that there is no elephant.
> What I find fascinating is that people really *want*
> -- almost to the point of *need* -- there to be an
> elephant in the room. :-)
>
> > I guess that by definition you could only have one reality but,
> > as we see these days, a lot of people are trying to obscure it.
>
> I really don't agree with your "definition," and
> hold that to be a desire for consensus Reality,
> nothing more.
>
> What makes me believe this (or posit this, because
> I don't really have "fixed" beliefs one way or
> another on all of this) are my experiences with
> what Carlos Castaneda termed "separate realities."
> I'm talking about siddhis and/or paranormal events
> that simply *do not map* to most people's ideas
> about what Reality entails. Most fascinatingly,
> they *do not map* WHILE the experiences are going
> on, and afterwards.
>
> You're sitting there or standing there in a *very*
> separate reality in which the mountain that was
> solid in front of you a minute before no longer
> is, and you can see through it. And you *know*
> that this cannot be happening, but it is. Or you
> are sitting less than three feet from someone
> who just "goes transparent," so that you can
> see stars through his body. Or you find yourself
> able to do things that are not considered possible
> in "normal" reality, or watch other people do
> these things.
>
> These "separate realities" are SO separate as to
> be profoundly shocking -- intellectually and
> physiologically. Your whole *body* reacts to them,
> trying to convince you that you didn't see and
> experience what you just saw and experienced.
> But you did.
>
> I honestly believe that the desire for there to
> be a "definition" that says that there is only
> one Reality ("There can only be one," a la
> Highlander) is driven by 1) pandering to con-
> sensus reality...going with the herd, 2) want-
> ing there to be only one Reality because that
> is simpler and one can convince oneself that
> you can "get a handle on it" or "understand"
> it all someday, and 3) what I call "scripture
> fulfillment fantasies."
>
> The last is most interesting from a sociological
> perspective. People glom on to a philosophy or
> religion and find that it "defines" their version
> of Reality. And so they start to practice "con-
> firmation bias" thinking, trying to project what
> they have come to believe is the "definition" of
> Reality onto what they perceive as reality all
> around them, trying to make a square peg fit
> into a round hole. For example, repeating the
> "God is love" mantra over and over while gazing
> at the aftermath of a hurricane that has just
> killed tens of thousands of people.
>
> I'm more comfortable with allowing round holes
> to remain round holes. I don't feel the need to
> redefine them as square pegs, or even "under-
> stand" what makes some things round holes and
> others square pegs. Things just *are* the way
> that they are.
>
> This is not a subject that any of us can declare
> ourselves "winners" on. It's *completely* a matter
> of belief. Mine is that "multiple realities" works
> to explain the world as I have experienced it far
> more accurately than "one Reality perceived many
> different ways."
>
> And pragmatically, the only real difference between
> these two views is the sense of "ease" that each
> develops in the seeker or perceiver. If you tend
> to believe that there is only One Reality, you
> are pretty much stuck in seeking mode until you
> convince yourself you have "found" that One
> Reality. And at that point history tells us that
> what you tend to do with that vision of One Reality
> is start a religion that over time causes millions
> of deaths trying to impose itself on other people. :-)
>
> The "separate reality" philosophy allows you just
> to relax and enjoy what happens, whatever happens.
> There is no need to try to impose one's view of
> reality on other people, because theirs is -- and
> should be -- different from yours. I doubt that
> you'd ever find very many "separate reality"
> zealots. :-)
>
In Barry's world of separate reality he is a law unto himself, a happy clam
closed to Reality. His T-shirt says, "Do not disturb,I am delusional."
"Schizophrenia is a medical illness that causes strange thinking, strange
feelings, and unusual behavior. The disease can cause you to withdraw from the
people and activities in the world around you and to retreat into a world of
delusions or separate reality.
Schizophrenia is a kind of psychosis, which is an impairment of thinking in
which the interpretation of reality is abnormal."
