Slip, thanks for the wonderful topic. It is one that I’ve been contemplating a lot the last couple of years with no clear resolution, so what I type here will as a consequence appear incoherent necessarily.
“Each of us has a life, one that begins and will end at some point in time.” – sd Yes, all things have a beginning, middle and an end. This is true for what many call ‘life’ too. This I say even though I fully embrace that eternal spark within us all. Sometimes I express our ‘being’ in the world as an aspect of emanation. http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/emanatio.htm http://www.iep.utm.edu/p/plotinus.htm etc. This even though there are vastly differing understandings of this view. So, when one talks about life, the very nature of being and what we are as human beings needs to be fully addressed and understood. Few do either. Without clarity on this primary point, the rest of our musings, including the notion of influence or doing or personal will are more like comic book stories projected upon a large panorama with no actual life or being to be found. For the nonce, I’ll rant on some of the components of your post and then continue with my own projection of my best understanding of the topic. “Many of us sit and watch the world on television, but what are we as individuals doing to influence the world as those that we see on television.” – sd Seen as an analogy, the above is wonderful Slip! And, television is but a commercial venture today with no more illusion to existing for the common good. What is seen there is almost entirely one thing, an attempt at influencing the watcher into purchasing something: from coke to cars, from religion to ratatui, from drugs to democracy, from opinions to being objects of social engineering. (A side plug here for Chomsky’s clarity here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJuqoDvyXOk part 1 of 9) “There are those of us who sit idly within our private worlds and judge the world around us in order to somehow justify our own world, to make it right for us, to paint that picture that makes our world the right world for each of us.” – sd Quite insightful again Slip and another great analogy…that of the painter. You continue with: “The real world is always tomorrow as each of us realize that we are soon to become part of the past and that all of what we have fashioned for ourselves somehow, someday becomes just a dream.” – sd As wonderful and clear as this is, and I share similar musings, I must ask, is not it all ‘just a dream’? Even your additional reminder to wake up: “One need only to think ahead as a 99 year old person, who stares into space reminiscing the past and realizing it was all just a temporary ride."What have I done?", "What was I thinking?", "Why did I buy the dream?"” Is not even this a dream for us? I feel that in many ways it is. To support this view, I’ll quickly recap. Life is transitory. We absorb and reflect what we see. This absorption and reflection is influenced by previous attachments we have acquired ad infinitum! (along with things like hormones, neural chemistry, the seasons, dna etc.) The result is what we call ‘self’…and this self in such a chain of events is but a ripple in the stream of life…using ID’s analogy. Thus, there is the emanation aspect of ‘being’. This, to me, can only be observed clarified internally. Doing this requires vision that is of what some would call a divine stance… a universal and eternal view. Without tapping into this spark of the eternal creation, our actions are but that of an automaton embracing the noise in our heads as being freedom to act. This sort of self deification, believing in methods others have used on matter and attempting to transfer such methods to the ancient practice of self observation often results in even more comical two dimensional characters. So, when you ask “Have you in some way influenced the world? Are you buying a dream? Do you think that you have some say in the future, your future, the future of your progeny, of your planet, of your.....................................................? “ Slip, I can in all honesty say that I feel little to no influence, mainly due to watching what some would call my actions and intentions and seeing them as having a beginning long ago, thus merely harmonizing with the universe. Am I buying a dream? Only in the sense of having found that I have been asleep, I remain asleep in some ways…not as a purchase from another, but as one aspect of the awakening process. Do I think that I have some say in the future..? Only in the sense that my thoughts do take this form on occasion, like when I call my congressman and take personal action for the good. However, do note that this is based on thoughts, not the foundational base of being. Most likely unlike others here, I will echo the words of a great teacher: “Don’t touch the painting.” On Jul 8, 1:23 am, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > Each of us has a life, one that begins and will end at some point in > time. Many of us sit and watch the world on television, but what are > we as individuals doing to influence the world as those that we see on > television. There are those of us who sit idly within our private > worlds and judge the world around us in order to somehow justify our > own world, to make it right for us, to paint that picture that makes > our world the right world for each of us. > The real world is always tomorrow as each of us realize that we are > soon to become part of the past and that all of what we have fashioned > for ourselves somehow, someday becomes just a dream. > One need only to think ahead as a 99 year old person, who stares into > space reminiscing the past and realizing it was all just a temporary > ride. > "What have I done?", "What was I thinking?", "Why did I buy the > dream?" > > Have you in some way influenced the world? > > Are you buying a dream? > > Do you think that you have some say in the future, your future, the > future of your progeny, of your planet, of > your.....................................................? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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