--- In [email protected], "Marek Reavis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Curtis, you sure know how to put out the kind of velcro I get > snagged on; this is an excellent topic and one I've been thinking > about and playing with for a while, though with no resolution or > even fine definition achieved. > > But it seems to me that the initial presumption of the reality of > time and therefore the sequential and discrete construct of > personalities and events within it creates a first and fundamental > misalignment of what might happen within any person's consciousness. > For instance, it seems likely to me that 'reincarnation' refers not > to a unique, historical sequence of lives lived by some underlying > and fundamental (but still fundamentally ignorant) personality that > extends from the past and into the future as pencilled in on the > cosmic wall calendar, but rather just a shift of attention to a > constellation of experiences that "appears" within a matrix of time.
That's pretty much my take on it, too. Time is the illusion, and timelessness is more the reality. Or one reality, anyway. > In other words, it seems likely to me that as "I" go through this > life and accumulate whatever wisdom, insight and illumination that > this personality can absorb, then when this particular receiver (the > body) winks out, then attention shifts to another constellation of > experiences that another receiver provides. In this model, I don't > understand why "I" couldn't be "reborn" as my mother or my father or > my guru or my God, or any other personality that is a proper > expression of where and what my attention is drawn to. Exactly. Even though I've had a few strong "past- life memories," my suspicion is that it isn't a phenomenon related to "memory" of a "past" event at all. It's more of a shifting of my attention such that two *simultaneous* lifetimes occuring in timelessness are perceived simultanously, from the point of view of one of them. The only thing that makes one of them seem "past" and the other "present" is this illusion of time and our sequent- iality within it. > In the experience of psychedelics and meditation-catalyzed visions, > as well as dream experiences, it seems clear that the experiences > exist within 'me' but the information provided can be as real and as > useful as any experiences in the 'real' world. The color red is > just as information-rich and evocative regardless of where it > appears, either just in my head or shared in the communal reality. > > So in language of religion, the attention is directed towards a > certain constellation of qualities and characteristics that, to > one degree or another, the personality finds appealing. For me, > although raised Roman Catholic, I never really connected with the > Jesus personality, but find many of the Hindu gods very appealing > and the personality of Guru Dev even more so. It's just where my > own personality finds a certain satisfaction, where my attention > is naturally drawn. One of the reasons I probably felt out of place in the TM movement is that I *wasn't* drawn to these types of images or personalities. I could never get off on Guru Dev, or on Hindu gods or goddesses or whatever. They just didn't float my boat. On the other hand, I *could* identify with formlessness, with the Absolute, with the Void. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. > So there really doesn't seem to be a difference between real and > unreal, only what we agree on and what we don't. The personality of > Jesus is no more unreal now than it was a couple of thousand years > ago and it wasn't any more real "then" than it is "now". If your > attention is drawn to that personality, as you feel it to be, then > you grow in those values naturally. I agree, even though the personality of Jesus may not be actually present. The idea of him still is, as long as you focus on it. > Mostly rambling, I guess, but I'll think about it some more. > Really appreciate you bringing it up, thanks. Yup. Nice contrast to some of the "I've so been wronged and nobody cares" crap lately.
