--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" <sparaig@> wrote: > > > > I seldom claim experiences, but I'm pretty sure I've > > mentioned episodes of witnessing dreaming, witnessing > > sleep and witnessing waking states. Additionally, I've > > mentioned what I believe may have been a flash of Unity > > at one point. More recently, perhaps a flash of BC. But, > > how is MY non-permanent state without any external > > indications of its reality different than the insane > > person whose voices tell him to kill people? > > It's *your* experience. > > That is, it may have no validity to someone else, > but as long as it's part of your "experience set," > you have the choice as to whether to believe that > the experience was valid or not. What I'm talking > about is that you have been *very* clear on this > forum in the past that you don't *trust* your > subjective experiences. That's your choice, of > course, but I find it sad.
Did y ou note that I said that my exeriences were ephemeral? An ephemeral episode of unity or whatever is no more valid than any other ephemeral experience. I thot you was a Buddist, dude. > > No one I've ever heard of in human history has > realized enlightenment without trusting in the > validity of their own experience. I suspect that > no one ever will. No amount of "scientific > evidence" will ever replace that trust. So, rather than killing the buddha, they made him a houseguest? > > > I'm just naturally skeptical of my own experiences and > > everyone else's, including MMY's and Gurudev's and > > Buddha's and Jesus's and so on. > > There we differ. I am skeptical of everyone else's > experiences (in the sense that I do not accept them > as either true or false, just what the person said > that they experienced). However, I am not skeptical > of my own personal subjective experiences. They are > about the *only* thing I trust. Your mileage may vary. > My points: 1) I have no reason to trust an ephemiral experience, no matter how "spiritual" it may seem at the time or in retrospect or whatevr, than some other kind of experience that isn't so "sublime." 2) even if I were having such experiences 24/7, there's still no guarantee that they are eprmanent because without some kind of objective measure, I can't possibly be certain that such experiences are anything more than yet another illussion no matter how profound-seeming. Now, it is possible that 24/7 enlightenment would simply dispell such doubts by its nature, but that still doesn't do away with the objective criteria bit above. It merely says that I wouldn't CARE about "verifying" my own experience. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
