Basically I'd agree with your perspective but with a few small modifications and clarifications. I'd like to say first that there are a number of intelligent and aware people here on Mind's Eye. Neither you nor I are that unique here.
As regards biology, psychology, sociology, I'd have to say that they do not necessarily have a bearing on our makeup but rather are a reflection and our attempts at understanding our makeup. Yes, it is true our younger years are highly formative of that makeup and together with the traits and characteristics passed on by our genes in probably the majority of cases determine that individual's life throughout. However, there are also many, albeit a minority, who manage to rise above much of those influences. Here I think you might likely call them determinants rather than mere influences, but I have touched our history sufficiently to believe that as humans we have the ability to rise above the influences of both nature and nurture. This unique spark of life we have in us has enabled our species to claw our way up out of the thick primeval soup and build a civilization which, despite its many apparent ills and wrongs, is still the most remarkable monument to our existence and influence on not only the world but in the universe. Human beings are deeply involved with symbols. We speak volumes in our symbols which we foolishly attempt to hide in our common words and deeds. But as one of my preferred sages, Jung, would have it -- we can not hide our realities from anyone but ourselves. Taking this grain of knowledge of our symbols and applying it to the history of our gods tells me that these gods are but symbols of our own potential. We have created these gods and endowed them with the powers that we actually possess and are in the process of achieving and actualizing. Our gods are but a self-portrait, a reversal of Dorian Gray's, if you will. I do not believe it is for any small end that we have managed not only to survive but be in control of our world whether we realize it or not. As far as I've been able to determine there was no choice on my part in the genes I inherited -- and I'm not lessening the influence of such physical realities -- but many times people can and do rise above such influences. Neither our genetic code nor our environment write our futures in stone, though I have to grant that in viewing many people's lives it does appear to be so. However, regardless how much I favor individual responsibility, there are exceptions I have to allow. Sometimes genetics and upbringing can and does overwhelm the individual personality. It is why we make allowances in our laws and treatment of individuals for such things as insanity and inability to tell right from wrong. But the future may hold cures for such ills. After all, look at some of societies ills we have cured merely in the last hundred years. People who would otherwise have been incapacitated by either physical or mental disabilities have been made whole through medicine and therapy. It is a remarkable notation in our dossier how well we treat our mentally ill compared to just a hundred years ago. I simply cannot see our species, either collectively or individually, being permanently locked into a mode of life, character and spirituality as determined by our genes or family. I'm not sure what you mean by a heavenly environment but at face value, I take such a phrase to mean a goal, a quest, which we never ever achieve. The journey is far more exciting. Once we achieve perfection -- if we ever do which I don't believe we will -- but if we do, I have to ask, what then? But other than that, I think we have a great deal of control over the world we create and inhabit. We just need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for it. On Aug 15, 11:09 am, RP Singh <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Gruff , > I am much impressed by your knowledge and application. You are an > intelligent man and I think you will be able to understand what I have to > say , I have said it many times and I have received no response. > You will agree that biology , psychology , sociology has a great bearing on > the make up of the nature of an individual. Most of our character traits are > influenced by our genetic endowments. The environment in which we are born > and live for the first few years of our life moulds our nature. We may say > that our personality or nature is a product of the hardware we got from our > genes and the programming which our environment did on this personality. > Even in later years we didn't have much choice as to the environment into > which we moved because of the possibilities we got we chose the one which > suited our nature or into which we were forced to move. > Now think of yourself as an individual and not a son or offspring of your > parents. Did you by any chance chose your genes or your early environment? > Yet they are responsible for your behavior. Even the ' I ' in you is a > product of your genes. Why don't I think like you ? I am different from you. > The heavenly environment that you have is not in your hands though humans > are trying to take it into their control. But why take it further , whatever > you do you are bound by your personality which was not created by you , it > was created basically by the first signs of life from which you have evolved > and those first signs were evolved from the cosmic egg and the cosmic egg > came out of nothing and that nothing was intelligent enough to deliver a > cosmic egg in which the entire universe was inherent. It is that nothing I > call God.
