Merkabah

[Sinny]

I've had several paranormal experiences.

I think that many 'rational thinkers' are blinded by their rationality.

They tell me that what I have seen and experienced is a nothing more than a psychotic break.

I think.. that I'm perfectly 'sane', and that they are small minded and dismissive.

 

[Skarekrow]

I've had several paranormal experiences.

I think that many 'rational thinkers' are blinded by their rationality.

They tell me that what I have seen and experienced is a nothing more than a psychotic break.

I think I'm perfectly 'sane', and that they are small minded and dismissive.

Yeah, when physical objects are tossed around from across the room and it was witnessed by other people besides myself...then it must be mass hallucinations all with the same experience.
Even if it were a mass hallucination, what would bring on a hallucination that all those present see at the same time - makes no sense.
I let most of it go, because it really is something to be witnessed by oneself before you start to understand that our reality is not exactly what we’ve been told.
Nice to make you acquaintance btw.

 

[Tin Man]

I've had several paranormal experiences.

I think that many 'rational thinkers' are blinded by their rationality.

They tell me that what I have seen and experienced is a nothing more than a psychotic break.

I think I'm perfectly 'sane', and that they are small minded and dismissive.

I think this is especially true with those that label themselves skeptics. I once listened to a podcast called "A Skeptic's Guide to the Universe". And while all the people on it were smart, interesting individuals their narrow-mindedness completely put me off. They rejected everything that couldn't be immediately proven. I get that there's a lot of bullshit pseudo-sciences out there, but to completely dismiss anything that falls outside your realm of experience is so arrogant and foolish. There's so much that's commonly accepted today, but a hundred years ago would have been seen as superstitious nonsense. And I feel that will be the way a hundred years from now.

And this seems to be a common theme among the scientific community lately. It's a shame there aren't more scientists like Richard Feynman or Carl Sagan who may not have believed in such things, but didn't dismiss them outright or ridicule those who do.

 

[Skarekrow]

I think this is especially true with those that label themselves skeptics. I once listened to a podcast called "A Skeptic's Guide to the Universe". And while all the people on it were smart, interesting individuals their narrow-mindedness completely put me off. They rejected everything that couldn't be immediately proven. I get that there's a lot of bullshit pseudo-sciences out there, but to completely dismiss anything that falls outside your realm of experience is so arrogant and foolish. There's so much that's commonly accepted today, but a hundred years ago would have been seen as superstitious nonsense. And I feel that will be the way a hundred years from now.

And this seems to be a common theme among the scientific community lately. It's a shame there aren't more scientists like Richard Feynman or Carl Sagan who may not have believed in such things, but didn't dismiss them outright or ridicule those who do.

Again, let me repost a nice manifesto...there is more if you go to the page - http://www.opensciences.org/about/manifesto-for-a-post-materialist-science

Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science
​

We are a group of internationally known scientists, from a variety of scientific fields (biology, neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry), who participated in an international summit on post-materialist science, spirituality and society.

The summit was co-organized by Gary E. Schwartz, PhD and Mario Beauregard, PhD, the University of Arizona, and Lisa Miller, PhD, Columbia University.

This summit was held at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona, on February 7-9, 2014.
Our purpose was to discuss the impact of the materialist ideology on science and the emergence of a post-materialist paradigm for science, spirituality, and society.

We have come to the following conclusions:

1. The modern scientific worldview is predominantly predicated on assumptions that are closely associated with classical physics. Materialism—the idea that matter is the only reality—is one of these assumptions. A related assumption is reductionism, the notion that complex things can be understood by reducing them to the interactions of their parts, or to simpler or more fundamental things such as tiny material particles.

2. During the 19th century, these assumptions narrowed, turned into dogmas, and coalesced into an ideological belief system that came to be known as "scientific materialism." This belief system implies that the mind is nothing but the physical activity of the brain, and that our thoughts cannot have any effect upon our brains and bodies, our actions, and the physical world.

3. The ideology of scientific materialism became dominant in academia during the 20th century. So dominant that a majority of scientists started to believe that it was based on established empirical evidence, and represented the only rational view of the world.

4. Scientific methods based upon materialistic philosophy have been highly successful in not only increasing our understanding of nature but also in bringing greater control and freedom through advances in technology.

5. However, the nearly absolute dominance of materialism in the academic world has seriously constricted the sciences and hampered the development of the scientific study of mind and spirituality. Faith in this ideology, as an exclusive explanatory framework for reality, has compelled scientists to neglect the subjective dimension of human experience. This has led to a severely distorted and impoverished understanding of ourselves and our place in nature.

6. Science is first and foremost a non-dogmatic, open-minded method of acquiring knowledge about nature through the observation, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena. Its methodology is not synonymous with materialism and should not be committed to any particular beliefs, dogmas, or ideologies.

7. At the end of the nineteenth century, physicists discovered empirical phenomena that could not be explained by classical physics. This led to the development, during the 1920s and early 1930s, of a revolutionary new branch of physics called quantum mechanics (QM). QM has questioned the material foundations of the world by showing that atoms and subatomic particles are not really solid objects—they do not exist with certainty at definite spatial locations and definite times. Most importantly, QM explicitly introduced the mind into its basic conceptual structure since it was found that particles being observed and the observer—the physicist and the method used for observation—are linked. According to one interpretation of QM, this phenomenon implies that the consciousness of the observer is vital to the existence of the physical events being observed, and that mental events can affect the physical world. The results of recent experiments support this interpretation. These results suggest that the physical world is no longer the primary or sole component of reality, and that it cannot be fully understood without making reference to the mind.

8. Psychological studies have shown that conscious mental activity can causally influence behavior, and that the explanatory and predictive value of agentic factors (e.g. beliefs, goals, desires and expectations) is very high. Moreover, research in psychoneuroimmunology indicates that our thoughts and emotions can markedly affect the activity of the physiological systems (e.g., immune, endocrine, cardiovascular) connected to the brain. In other respects, neuroimaging studies of emotional self-regulation, psychotherapy, and the placebo effect demonstrate that mental events significantly influence the activity of the brain.

9. Studies of the so-called "psi phenomena" indicate that we can sometimes receive meaningful information without the use of ordinary senses, and in ways that transcend the habitual space and time constraints. Furthermore, psi research demonstrates that we can mentally influence—at a distance—physical devices and living organisms (including other human beings). Psi research also shows that distant minds may behave in ways that are nonlocally correlated, i.e. the correlations between distant minds are hypothesized to be unmediated (they are not linked to any known energetic signal), unmitigated (they do not degrade with increasing distance), and immediate (they appear to be simultaneous). These events are so common that they cannot be viewed as anomalous nor as exceptions to natural laws, but as indications of the need for a broader explanatory framework that cannot be predicated exclusively on materialism.

10. Conscious mental activity can be experienced in clinical death during a cardiac arrest (this is what has been called a "near-death experience" [NDE]). Some near-death experiencers (NDErs) have reported veridical out-of-body perceptions (i.e. perceptions that can be proven to coincide with reality) that occurred during cardiac arrest. NDErs also report profound spiritual experiences during NDEs triggered by cardiac arrest. It is noteworthy that the electrical activity of the brain ceases within a few seconds following a cardiac arrest.

11. Controlled laboratory experiments have documented that skilled research mediums (people who claim that they can communicate with the minds of people who have physically died) can sometimes obtain highly accurate information about deceased individuals. This further supports the conclusion that mind can exist separate from the brain.

12. Some materialistically inclined scientists and philosophers refuse to acknowledge these phenomena because they are not consistent with their exclusive conception of the world. Rejection of post-materialist investigation of nature or refusal to publish strong science findings supporting a post-materialist framework are antithetical to the true spirit of scientific inquiry, which is that empirical data must always be adequately dealt with. Data which do not fit favored theories and beliefs cannot be dismissed a priori. Such dismissal is the realm of ideology, not science.

13. It is important to realize that psi phenomena, NDEs in cardiac arrest, and replicable evidence from credible research mediums, appear anomalous only when seen through the lens of materialism.

14. Moreover, materialist theories fail to elucidate how brain could generate the mind, and they are unable to account for the empirical evidence alluded to in this manifesto. This failure tells us that it is now time to free ourselves from the shackles and blinders of the old materialist ideology, to enlarge our concept of the natural world, and to embrace a post-materialist paradigm.

15. According to the post-materialist paradigm:

a) Mind represents an aspect of reality as primordial as the physical world. Mind is fundamental in the universe, i.e. it cannot be derived from matter and reduced to anything more basic.

b) There is a deep interconnectedness between mind and the physical world.

c) Mind (will/intention) can influence the state of the physical world, and operate in a nonlocal (or extended) fashion, i.e. it is not confined to specific points in space, such as brains and bodies, nor to specific points in time, such as the present. Since the mind may nonlocally influence the physical world, the intentions, emotions, and desires of an experimenter may not be completely isolated from experimental outcomes, even in controlled and blinded experimental designs.

d) Minds are apparently unbounded, and may unite in ways suggesting a unitary, One Mind that includes all individual, single minds.

e) NDEs in cardiac arrest suggest that the brain acts as a transceiver of mental activity, i.e. the mind can work through the brain, but is not produced by it. NDEs occurring in cardiac arrest, coupled with evidence from research mediums, further suggest the survival of consciousness, following bodily death, and the existence of other levels of reality that are non-physical.

f) Scientists should not be afraid to investigate spirituality and spiritual experiences since they represent a central aspect of human existence.

16. Post-materialist science does not reject the empirical observations and great value of scientific achievements realized up until now. It seeks to expand the human capacity to better understand the wonders of nature, and in the process rediscover the importance of mind and spirit as being part of the core fabric of the universe. Post-materialism is inclusive of matter, which is seen as a basic constituent of the universe.

17. The post-materialist paradigm has far-reaching implications. It fundamentally alters the vision we have of ourselves, giving us back our dignity and power, as humans and as scientists. This paradigm fosters positive values such as compassion, respect, and peace. By emphasizing a deep connection between ourselves and nature at large, the post-materialist paradigm also promotes environmental awareness and the preservation of our biosphere. In addition, it is not new, but only forgotten for four hundred years, that a lived transmaterial understanding may be the cornerstone of health and wellness, as it has been held and preserved in ancient mind-body-spirit practices, religious traditions, and contemplative approaches.

18. The shift from materialist science to post-materialist science may be of vital importance to the evolution of the human civilization. It may be even more pivotal than the transition from geocentrism to heliocentrism.

* The Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science was prepared by Mario Beauregard, PhD (University of Arizona), Gary E. Schwartz, PhD (University of Arizona), and Lisa Miller, PhD (Columbia University), in collaboration with Larry Dossey, MD, Alexander Moreira-Almeida, MD, PhD, Marilyn Schlitz, PhD, Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, and Charles Tart, PhD.

** For further information, please contact Dr Mario Beauregard, Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. Email: mariobeauregard@email.arizona.edu

*** We considered two ways of referring to the emerging paradigm presented in this Manifesto: the hyphenated version (post-materialism) and the non-hyphenated version (postmaterialism). The hyphenated form was selected for the sake of clarity for both scientists and lay people.

**** The Summary Report of the International Summit on Post-Materialist Science, Spirituality and Society can be downloaded here: International Summit on Post-Materialist Science: Summary Report (PDF).

We invite you, scientists of the world, to read the Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science and sign it, if you wish to show your support.

 

[Tin Man]

Again, let me repost a nice manifesto...there is more if you go to the page - http://www.opensciences.org/about/manifesto-for-a-post-materialist-science

You would find many supporters in those scientists who revealed one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the last century. It's surprising just how strongly modern scientists hold on to reductive materialism, despite all the holes that's been poked in it by quantum mechanics. Though, as you demonstrated, there are many in the scientific community who oppose this.

As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.
-Max Planck

 

[Skarekrow]

You would find many supporters in those scientists who revealed one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the last century. It's surprising just how strongly modern scientists hold on to reductive materialism, despite all the holes that's been poked in it by quantum mechanics. Though, as you demonstrated, there are many in the scientific community who oppose this.

As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.
-Max Planck

If you follow that link there is an ever-growing list of world renowned scientists that have signed on supporting this manifesto.
It’s going to take time with you fucking INTJs out there wanting your solid proof and all that shit....hahahahaha.
JK

Have you seen the documentary “I AM”?
Anyhow, at one point they are testing a petri dish of yogurt...and they had two wires connected to some sort of electrical measuring device (idk, maybe it was all bs), but when they sent the yogurt good intentions the pointer on the readout would go up...kind of like the old idea of talking to your plants or playing them music...sending them good vibes, etc. (okay lame example)
Take paranormal incidents for example then...they have been recorded all throughout the history of mankind, and continue to happen to people, and yet, it’s all considered hocus-pocus or is incredulous because of stupid ghost shows with moronic hosts.
The most common incidence of paranormal activity is the “deathbed farewell”, where someone appears to someone to say “goodbye”.
This transcends across religions, countries, cultures, etc.
So why aren’t we studying it further?

Probably just have to wait for all the old fuckers to die off hehe.

 

[Kgal]

If you follow that link there is an ever-growing list of world renowned scientists that have signed on supporting this manifesto.
It’s going to take time with you fucking INTJs out there wanting your solid proof and all that shit....hahahahaha.
JK

Have you seen the documentary “I AM”?
Anyhow, at one point they are testing a petri dish of yogurt...and they had two wires connected to some sort of electrical measuring device (idk, maybe it was all bs), but when they sent the yogurt good intentions the pointer on the readout would go up...kind of like the old idea of talking to your plants or playing them music...sending them good vibes, etc. (okay lame example)
Take paranormal incidents for example then...they have been recorded all throughout the history of mankind, and continue to happen to people, and yet, it’s all considered hocus-pocus or is incredulous because of stupid ghost shows with moronic hosts.
The most common incidence of paranormal activity is the “deathbed farewell”, where someone appears to someone to say “goodbye”.
This transcends across religions, countries, cultures, etc.
So why aren’t we studying it further?

Probably just have to wait for all the old fuckers to die off hehe.

:lol: You and Jacobi are so funny! :love:

Do you mean an apparition appears to the person dying to say goodbye?

I remember B telling me in that last week before he died he could feel himself being touched, patted, consoled, and loved by those unseen by our human eyes. I still get a tear in my eye whenever I remember kneeling down beside his little twin bed feeling their love come pouring through me FOR him....and they were overjoyed he was coming home.
I'm thinking the apparitions aren't there to say goodbye....they're there to walk the dying person "home".

Waiting for the old fuckers to die is right! I'll never forget my sheer amazement at hearing one of my peers(one year older than me) declare "there ain't nothin' a young person can teach me!".... and she held a masters in social work same as me. I mean wtf! I had been telling her how wonderful it was for me to be a part of this forum and how much I had learned from all of you here.
I was shocked to hear this coming out of the mouth of someone I thought was open minded.

So yeh... even though I'm one of those "old fuckers".... let them die if it means getting us out of the way of truth. Hmph.... Especially the scientists and professors. If they can't handle a new paradigm...let them gooooooo.

 

[Skarekrow]

:lol: You and Jacobi are so funny! :love:

Do you mean an apparition appears to the person dying to say goodbye?

I remember B telling me in that last week before he died he could feel himself being touched, patted, consoled, and loved by those unseen by our human eyes. I still get a tear in my eye whenever I remember kneeling down beside his little twin bed feeling their love come pouring through me FOR him....and they were overjoyed he was coming home.
I'm thinking the apparitions aren't there to say goodbye....they're there to walk the dying person "home".

Waiting for the old fuckers to die is right! I'll never forget my sheer amazement at hearing one of my peers(one year older than me) declare "there ain't nothin' a young person can teach me!".... and she held a masters in social work same as me. I mean wtf! I had been telling her how wonderful it was for me to be a part of this forum and how much I had learned from all of you here.
I was shocked to hear this coming out of the mouth of someone I thought was open minded.

So yeh... even though I'm one of those "old fuckers".... let them die if it means getting us out of the way of truth. Hmph.... Especially the scientists and professors. If they can't handle a new paradigm...let them gooooooo.

No.
It’s most common to for someone who has just died to visit their loved one’s and often times that living person who was just visited by a “ghost”, will get a telephone call following the experience from family or such telling them that the person has passed....but they already know.
I very much believe that we are visited by the spirits of our loved ones as we lay dying.
They don’t just comfort the dying but also those who pay attention.
I didn’t mean to clump all the “old fuckers” in a bunch...and I don’t consider you old either, so just shush.
Nor do I think that you are doing anything but amazing work here in this reality.

 

[Kgal]

No.
It’s most common to for someone who has just died to visit their loved one’s and often times that living person who was just visited by a “ghost”, will get a telephone call following the experience from family or such telling them that the person has passed....but they already know.
I very much believe that we are visited by the spirits of our loved ones as we lay dying.
They don’t just comfort the dying but also those who pay attention.
I didn’t mean to clump all the “old fuckers” in a bunch...and I don’t consider you old either, so just shush.
Nor do I think that you are doing anything but amazing work here in this reality.

Oh yeh... I've heard of that happening as well from others.

[flutters eyelashes] ...and thank you for not considering me an old fucker.

 

[Tin Man]

If you follow that link there is an ever-growing list of world renowned scientists that have signed on supporting this manifesto.
It’s going to take time with you fucking INTJs out there wanting your solid proof and all that shit....hahahahaha.
JK

Have you seen the documentary “I AM”?
Anyhow, at one point they are testing a petri dish of yogurt...and they had two wires connected to some sort of electrical measuring device (idk, maybe it was all bs), but when they sent the yogurt good intentions the pointer on the readout would go up...kind of like the old idea of talking to your plants or playing them music...sending them good vibes, etc. (okay lame example)
Take paranormal incidents for example then...they have been recorded all throughout the history of mankind, and continue to happen to people, and yet, it’s all considered hocus-pocus or is incredulous because of stupid ghost shows with moronic hosts.
The most common incidence of paranormal activity is the “deathbed farewell”, where someone appears to someone to say “goodbye”.
This transcends across religions, countries, cultures, etc.
So why aren’t we studying it further?

Probably just have to wait for all the old fuckers to die off hehe.

Well excuse me. If you don't need any proof, then I suppose you can just take all those ghost shows and tv [strike]frauds[/strike] psychics at their word. While we're at it, I'll tell you the lottery numbers for just five grand.

I'm reading a Neil Gaimen book at the moment, where he writes: "Adults follow paths. Kids explore." I think that's a big part of it. Maybe it's because we're scared at what lies beyond the path. Upon the eve of every great scientific discovery, are those who relentlessly oppose it. They can come from religions, from political leaders or from the scientific community.
And it's not always the old ornery folks, set in their ways.

Why wait?

 

[Skarekrow]

Well excuse me. If you don't need any proof, then I suppose you can just take all those ghost shows and tv [strike]frauds[/strike] psychics at their word. While we're at it, I'll tell you the lottery numbers for just five grand.

I'm reading a Neil Gaimen book at the moment, where he writes: "Adults follow paths. Kids explore." I think that's a big part of it. Maybe it's because we're scared at what lies beyond the path. Upon the eve of every great scientific discovery, are those who relentlessly oppose it. They can come from religions, from political leaders or from the scientific community.
And it's not always the old ornery folks, set in their ways.

Why wait?

Wait which book is it?
I just started “Trigger Warning” though I didn’t get very far before I passed out yesterday (not from lack of excitement within the book).
No...I require proof too...that was always my main hang-up with organized religion...they can hardly prove that Jesus existed much less that he isn’t just another version of the same messiah that appears throughout time in various forms.
Anyhow...you know I always try my best to put some scientific backing behind most of what I post here...it’s all one and the same.
Speaking of lotto numbers, there have been people who have won multiple times not with some algorithm written on a computer but then why - not pure luck, the odds are retardedly high, THEY willed it.
I know a gal who entered a car contest...cut out a picture of the car, put it on the wall, and every day said - “I win” and she fucking won.
Call it coincidence, I call it faith as I define it - mental control over reality.
It’s like how they still teach assassins for the CIA not to look at their target they are coming up behind to kill or grab - they will feel the stare and turn around...why?
Well, it’s been studied quite extensively and there is a notable curve in favor that people can actually feel someone stare at them....but of course how could that be possible in a materialist view? So it gets dismissed and swept under the rug.
I wanted to shake out the rug with this thread so to speak.

 

[Skarekrow]

Oh yeh... I've heard of that happening as well from others.

[flutters eyelashes] ...and thank you for not considering me an old fucker.

By far, this is the most common paranormal experience that most people experience in their lives.
But yet, there is very little actually studied or compiled on subject, most of which is subjective recounted events.
It would be very hard to actually study as you couldn’t have a good predictor of death and visitation.
Perhaps with more people wiring up their homes with cameras for security purposes we will catch such a thing, if that’s even possible...it may occur in the dream state or OOB state for the witness.
But because we don’t know, isn’t an excuse to not try and figure a working model.

 

[Skarekrow]

Some old photos of me...I figured I would throw them up since tomorrow is my 39th Birthday and I’m not dead yet so that’s a good thing.
BTW, it has been almost 3 years since I last smoked cigs? Hmmm...not sure.
Anyhow...I think I’m aging pretty well? no?
hahaha
(this is for the ladies....and @Jacobi )

 

[Skarekrow]

Me and my Son a few years ago...he’s 12 now and wears the same size shoe I do....jesus where did that time go?
I love him more than I could ever express and he’s not even biologically mine, and now that I’m divorced too, I have no legal anything other than being given guardianship (hey, I’ll take it...plus it beats him possibly being sent back to Russia for something lame).
I still see him twice a week.

 

[Tin Man]

Wait which book is it?
I just started “Trigger Warning” though I didn’t get very far before I passed out yesterday (not from lack of excitement within the book).
No...I require proof too...that was always my main hang-up with organized religion...they can hardly prove that Jesus existed much less that he isn’t just another version of the same messiah that appears throughout time in various forms.
Anyhow...you know I always try my best to put some scientific backing behind most of what I post here...it’s all one and the same.
Speaking of lotto numbers, there have been people who have won multiple times not with some algorithm written on a computer but then why - not pure luck, the odds are retardedly high, THEY willed it.
I know a gal who entered a car contest...cut out a picture of the car, put it on the wall, and every day said - “I win” and she fucking won.
Call it coincidence, I call it faith as I define it - mental control over reality.
It’s like how they still teach assassins for the CIA not to look at their target they are coming up behind to kill or grab - they will feel the stare and turn around...why?
Well, it’s been studied quite extensively and there is a notable curve in favor that people can actually feel someone stare at them....but of course how could that be possible in a materialist view? So it gets dismissed and swept under the rug.
I wanted to shake out the rug with this thread so to speak.

Nope, call bullshit on that. If that were true I would have enjoyed numerous threesomes with Scarlett Johannson and Channing Tatum by now.

Yeah, we have far more than just the five senses. Like spatial sense or sense of balance. And we know that we're also able to sense when people are looking at us, but it's never really been investigated as to why.

 

[Skarekrow]

Nope, call bullshit on that. If that were true I would have enjoyed numerous threesomes with Scarlett Johannson and Channing Tatum by now.

Yeah, we have far more than just the five senses. Like spatial sense or sense of balance. And we know that we're also able to sense when people are looking at us, but it's never really been investigated as to why.

People often miss or neglect to add as a sense, a sense of time passing...what is that like in comparison to an ant?
To a universe expanding?
(you can add those picture to your spank bank btw...it’s cool)
When we investigate time...we find that maybe it’s not really there at all...that everything is simultaneously happening all at once or not, it’s all in perception.
Why does certain magic work? (I think it does anyhow)
It’s a cheat code for reality.

 

[dang]

Glad you posted pics. I kept assuming you resembled the scarecrow from batman with a crude mask over your head. Do you spray psychedelics in people's faces? Hope not.

 

[Skarekrow]

Glad you posted pics. I kept assuming you resembled the scarecrow from batman with a crude mask over your head. Do you spray psychedelics in people's faces? Hope not.

Like a DMT vaporizer....wow...just hit a few random people with that shit....fun times at Walmart!!!

 

[Skarekrow]

“Please secure your own mask, before helping others."

~ Pre-flight instructions

(you know...but apply it to life and shit people)​

 

[dang]

People often miss or neglect to add as a sense, a sense of time passing...what is that like in comparison to an ant?
To a universe expanding?
(you can add those picture to your spank bank btw...it’s cool)
When we investigate time...we find that maybe it’s not really there at all...that everything is simultaneously happening all at once or not, it’s all in perception.
Why does certain magic work? (I think it does anyhow)
It’s a cheat code for reality.

Couldn't you argue that pretty much everything (self, free will, ego, time, space, cosmos, Earth, people, you, me) is an illusion at some level? I can relate to Neo. It feels like there is a splinter in my brain. Like my soul itches and I can't scratch it. Like I can sense something is not quite right, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I don't think attaining enlightenment answers the fundamental questions. I just think when you become enlightened you accept your situation and make peace with reality. Like a content castaway, a happy prisoner, a joyful slave. So in some sense you are liberated. But in another sense you are still grappling with the same issues we all are. Are you really free? Do you really understand who you are, why you are here, what is the true nature of our reality? Being enlightened or ego loss does not solve all of one's problems if you are a genuine seeker in my opinion. I don't think you can really be free until you understand everything and are able to do as you please. Choose your own reality. Whether we choose to be here, are forced to be here, or a combination of both, how can we ever really be free on our own terms? I watched some of a video with Neil Degrasse Tyson and five intellectuals discussing whether we could be living in a simulated universe. It is very difficult to disprove the notion. We actually could be characters in a video game created by advanced super computers like the matrix. Which would explain your statement that magic is like a cheat code for reality. When you explore the full range of reality you find that there are experiences that seem to fit the idea that this reality is radically different from what most people believe. Metaphysically our reality more closely resembles a video game or sci-fi movie than a materialist point of view. I know I don't need to convince you of this. But back to my earlier question. What isn't an illusion? Is anything actually real? And how do things seem so real if they are not so? Based on the simulation hypothesis, could we learn to fly? Wouldn't that just be another cheat code for this game? I saw the movie Chronicle which depicts telekinesis. Why couldn't we learn to move objects with our minds? The possibilities are endless. Either we are crazy to even entertain these fanciful notions, or we are truly open to the infinite possibilities which exist for us in this reality. Is anything truly possible? Are miracles possible? Are we only limited by our own minds? Perhaps. I assume there are some limitations considering we have bodies. But I would think if we were non physical entities we would be unlimited. I want the truth. I think you do as well. And I think most people in this world don't. It is an alienating experience to wake up and realize that the world consists primarily of people who feel like zombies. I don't want to go through the motions. I want to be free and wise and happy. How about you?