(no subject)
"How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign’d."
~ Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard.
In exchange for heaven, God offers the erasure of our identities. The memories of loved ones and hated ones is replaced by a greater good, an eternal bliss, devoid of discrimination between beings (you don't love your mommy more up here).
If there was a perfect world, would we want to live in it? ~ ACF
This is the reason now we're all alive and not born straight into this "eternal sunshine". We have to have to choose heaven for ourselves, choose the loss of our individuality to forget our sins. Whether it be Buddhism, Taoism or Christianity, we are asked to seek abandonment of our egos and selves in preparation for the day we die and the big question is asked by the Big Kahuna.
"Ready to give yourself up and become namelessly, blamelessly full of love?"
"No, not right now, I think I'd like to go on living"
And so you live another ten years or so until the same question is asked.
Are you ready to pay the price to get into heaven? All of our lives we make deals and bets, barter and way the costs/benefits of a million purchases and whatnot. The Sunday ads in the paper say "sale" "Bargain" and "cheap" like it's our favorite thing to hear.
Who doesn't want their blender at half off?
Apparently the big guy is offering us the best deal we'll ever see. A million perfect selves for your one imperfect being.
What if I don't want to go to heaven? I don't much like the idea of saying goodbye to memories of mom and dad, little sisters, cried for lovers.
Look at the alternatives. If [insert name of deity here]'s demand of us is to consciously give up our free will and say it's better when you submit, what about those that say no?
That's what I'd say Hell is. We are incomplete beings, yet our limited rationality is able to develop quite an ego. When we get to the next world and say we can handle things on our own, the big man has no choice but to let us go.
"Fine, don't come in here. See if i care."
"Fine, I won't! I'll be a'ok out here alone."
And we go our separate ways, which in the spirit world means we alone are left to deal with completely objective views of everything. We are then imprisoned by our own guilt and inability to come to grasp with the evil shit we've thought but not quite done.
So since we're all just holding out until our bodies give in, we are eventually going to become face to face with this decision. Heaven or thinking we can make it in the next world on our own. Admit it. You're not strong enough to handle shit by yourself. I don't like the idea of a perfect world, but I'll take it over self damnation eventually.
Interesting note: in 1933 the death of 256 year old Taoist Immortal Li Chung Yun was recorded and even verified by the US of A. He did a good job of saying no, but even a Taoist Immortal is not quite immortal.
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign’d."
~ Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard.
In exchange for heaven, God offers the erasure of our identities. The memories of loved ones and hated ones is replaced by a greater good, an eternal bliss, devoid of discrimination between beings (you don't love your mommy more up here).
If there was a perfect world, would we want to live in it? ~ ACF
This is the reason now we're all alive and not born straight into this "eternal sunshine". We have to have to choose heaven for ourselves, choose the loss of our individuality to forget our sins. Whether it be Buddhism, Taoism or Christianity, we are asked to seek abandonment of our egos and selves in preparation for the day we die and the big question is asked by the Big Kahuna.
"Ready to give yourself up and become namelessly, blamelessly full of love?"
"No, not right now, I think I'd like to go on living"
And so you live another ten years or so until the same question is asked.
Are you ready to pay the price to get into heaven? All of our lives we make deals and bets, barter and way the costs/benefits of a million purchases and whatnot. The Sunday ads in the paper say "sale" "Bargain" and "cheap" like it's our favorite thing to hear.
Who doesn't want their blender at half off?
Apparently the big guy is offering us the best deal we'll ever see. A million perfect selves for your one imperfect being.
What if I don't want to go to heaven? I don't much like the idea of saying goodbye to memories of mom and dad, little sisters, cried for lovers.
Look at the alternatives. If [insert name of deity here]'s demand of us is to consciously give up our free will and say it's better when you submit, what about those that say no?
That's what I'd say Hell is. We are incomplete beings, yet our limited rationality is able to develop quite an ego. When we get to the next world and say we can handle things on our own, the big man has no choice but to let us go.
"Fine, don't come in here. See if i care."
"Fine, I won't! I'll be a'ok out here alone."
And we go our separate ways, which in the spirit world means we alone are left to deal with completely objective views of everything. We are then imprisoned by our own guilt and inability to come to grasp with the evil shit we've thought but not quite done.
So since we're all just holding out until our bodies give in, we are eventually going to become face to face with this decision. Heaven or thinking we can make it in the next world on our own. Admit it. You're not strong enough to handle shit by yourself. I don't like the idea of a perfect world, but I'll take it over self damnation eventually.
Interesting note: in 1933 the death of 256 year old Taoist Immortal Li Chung Yun was recorded and even verified by the US of A. He did a good job of saying no, but even a Taoist Immortal is not quite immortal.