WARNING: Reading this may cause thoughts that lead to irritation, boredom, or who knows, maybe you'll just get an itch and forget you even read this
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Ooh, that's an interesting question for sure, and if I dare try and answer it, am I setting myself up for failure? (he says with a sly smile) ;-)
Well, what the heck, trying to describe one's concept of "god" is nothing new, some would say it's foolish, impossible, but I say that as long as I approach it with realistic expectations: (the intent is to describe my concept of "god", not to impart the 'experience' of "god")
So, let me give a few analogies. For me the concept of god could be likened to an awakened state, for example: When you dream, when you sleep, there are experiences you have that seem entirely real, and for most of us, and for most of the time, we don't know that we are dreaming, and one would argue that if you never woke up, you'd never know that you were dreaming, right?
(for those that think Matrix, well... sure, they're kinda on to the idea, but unfortunately it's the fear based version of an ancient story, told many times before) ;-)
So, back to dreaming... Well, the same is true (or similarly true) for our supposed waking state, the state that we walk around in all day long. I sincerely believe that the "physical realm", i.e. the stuff we see and experience with our eyes and ears and other normal physical senses, these are all part of a kind of dream state (an illusion of sorts). I also liken it (god, that is) to a kind of physics: it is known and common knowledge, that everything in the universe, all matter, everything, vibrates(resonates, has movement), and sometimes in my more new age quantum physics moods, I liken god to a state of 'being in sync' with a certain universal vibration, a wave length that resonates "love", health, and pure bliss. Maybe that's sounds foo-foo, but what I'm describing is something that happens to people all over the world, and since the beginning of time, it sometimes happens when people meditate, sometimes during a musical performance, sometimes during sex (rare, so for all the sex addicts out there, don't go trying to use this as an excuse for more sex! ~unless it really works for you, can we all say Tantra?) ;-)
As I was saying, it (the "in tune" vibrational state) is often described as those moments of synchronicity, those breakthrough moments when creative ideas come seemingly from the ether; great scientist, mathematicians, musicians, artists, visionaries, and spiritual leaders, all describe a similar experience (on occasion) that seems to transcend the known laws of the physical realm.
So, to me, god is a state of awareness, a vibrational quality that we can glimpse when we are "in the now", "in the moment", "in the zone", "in 'love'", where past and present no longer exist, and the physical body is just a vehicle, a piece of clothing, but surely not our essence, and surely not "who we are". This is the state where fear cannot exist, because there is nothing to lose, nothing to harm, nothing that can be taken away, and nothing that can "fail" or be wrong.
Well, how's that? Hopefully it made at least a little sense. All too often words are so loaded with preconceived ideas, and in particular, the word "god" is about as "loaded" as it gets, so, for most people to be able to get beyond their cultural preconditioning about religious concepts and the associated dogma and definitions of "god", this is quite a feat!
Concept of god Vs experience of god: Ok, so "to have a good idea is better than believing" (Kevin Smith's films ain't so lame as they seem...)
About dreaming: yes, if you never woke up that would become your reality of course...ancient history: Is man the dream of a shadow or is the shadow the dream of a man? (I can't recall the name of the author in this moment but it's an ancient Greek writer).
I don't agree on reality being all part of a dream state. Cause I base my understanding on the concept of "individual perception". Reality to me is what a person sees and understands through its own eyes. It's relative to one's own point of view. The closest I can get to your concept is to agree on the fact that, reality being one's own perception, then it could be compared to a dream, one's own dream of reality. But I have a problem with terms like dream and illusion cause they involve some kind of intentionality, as in "I have decided that this is how I wanna see/interpret/understand reality" and also, illusion gives me the idea that somehow, somewhere, someone has the ultimate truthful perception of reality, so everybody else who doesn't have the same perception is wrong, is illusional. I disagree on such a point of view, I don't believe in one unique ultimate truth, although that would make life much easier and comprehensible.
I agree though on the universal vibration theory. I don't know how and why it works, I can't explain it, but I can tell through experience that life forms communicate through vibrations/energy/vibes, whatever you wanna call it. Maybe it's a characteristic of these species, maybe it's spirituality, maybe it's god, maybe it's the anciest form to communicate, maybe its love......I just know that I reached the greatest high, the greatest ecstasy through music and I don't have a rational explanation for it, it just IS.
About synchronicity, creative ideas coming from the ether, I just recalled John Frusciante, guitarist with one of my favorite bands the RHCP, saying that he hears voices talking to him, giving him inspiration.....knowing the amount of drugs the guy has taken I would think straight away "schizofrenia", but then he really is inspired and inspiring, and I can see through my understanding of music how this actually makes sense. Maybe "reality" is just in between there, between the mind of a schizofrenic and a genius. Between the mind of someone who gets lost in the multitude of these voices, and who instead can actually focus better and make a sense out of it. I don't know really, this is all new to me. Certainly ain't stuff you read about in school. Interesting though.
ok, so at least you don't believe in the "Bible's God". I like your definition of god actually. Yes, a state of awareness, a vibrational quality. Uhm,I could subscribe to that, that is if I was interested to find out about "god". But it seems to me that this is a way to get by with the other people, the ones who want to convince you about their god (Christians, Jeova's ecc...) so you can compare your idea with theirs. I don't talk about god anymore these days. I'd rather talk about spirituality. I read many years ago on a science magazine that they had scanned the brain of a person while praying and found out that we use a specific part of our brain, unused for anything else, just for the function of spirituality. I thought that was inspiring.
And what about when you are in this vibrational awareness state, do you think you are experimenting reality then? An unique reality, shared by everybody else? #poor body anyway, for century been considered just as a vehicle.....better take care of it anyway, you never know, may be surprised by its potentials one day! ;] #
Intersting talk anyway, what are you studying: phylosophy, anthropology...?
Ouch, my head hurts! That's what I get for attempting to talk about such lofty ideas. Now I want to retreat into "ignorance is bliss"...
Just kidding, but to be honest, and to echo what you said, the greatest peace and connection I find is in music (or a flower, or a child that hasn't been taught fear) :-)
Re: "what are you studying: philosophy, anthropology...?"
Me? Study? Hardly, if anything I'm studying how to stay sane and enjoy living in the now (all in spite of myself!) :-)
Re: "What do you mean?" ("god")
Ooh, that's an interesting question for sure, and if I dare try and answer it, am I setting myself up for failure? (he says with a sly smile) ;-)
Well, what the heck, trying to describe one's concept of "god" is nothing new, some would say it's foolish, impossible, but I say that as long as I approach it with realistic expectations:
(the intent is to describe my concept of "god", not to impart the 'experience' of "god")
So, let me give a few analogies. For me the concept of god could be likened to an awakened state, for example: When you dream, when you sleep, there are experiences you have that seem entirely real, and for most of us, and for most of the time, we don't know that we are dreaming, and one would argue that if you never woke up, you'd never know that you were dreaming, right?
(for those that think Matrix, well... sure, they're kinda on to the idea, but unfortunately it's the fear based version of an ancient story, told many times before) ;-)
So, back to dreaming... Well, the same is true (or similarly true) for our supposed waking state, the state that we walk around in all day long. I sincerely believe that the "physical realm", i.e. the stuff we see and experience with our eyes and ears and other normal physical senses, these are all part of a kind of dream state (an illusion of sorts). I also liken it (god, that is) to a kind of physics: it is known and common knowledge, that everything in the universe, all matter, everything, vibrates(resonates, has movement), and sometimes in my more new age quantum physics moods, I liken god to a state of 'being in sync' with a certain universal vibration, a wave length that resonates "love", health, and pure bliss. Maybe that's sounds foo-foo, but what I'm describing is something that happens to people all over the world, and since the beginning of time, it sometimes happens when people meditate, sometimes during a musical performance, sometimes during sex (rare, so for all the sex addicts out there, don't go trying to use this as an excuse for more sex! ~unless it really works for you, can we all say Tantra?) ;-)
As I was saying, it (the "in tune" vibrational state) is often described as those moments of synchronicity, those breakthrough moments when creative ideas come seemingly from the ether; great scientist, mathematicians, musicians, artists, visionaries, and spiritual leaders, all describe a similar experience (on occasion) that seems to transcend the known laws of the physical realm.
So, to me, god is a state of awareness, a vibrational quality that we can glimpse when we are "in the now", "in the moment", "in the zone", "in 'love'", where past and present no longer exist, and the physical body is just a vehicle, a piece of clothing, but surely not our essence, and surely not "who we are". This is the state where fear cannot exist, because there is nothing to lose, nothing to harm, nothing that can be taken away, and nothing that can "fail" or be wrong.
Well, how's that? Hopefully it made at least a little sense. All too often words are so loaded with preconceived ideas, and in particular, the word "god" is about as "loaded" as it gets, so, for most people to be able to get beyond their cultural preconditioning about religious concepts and the associated dogma and definitions of "god", this is quite a feat!
Enjoy, and thanks for sharing your nice thoughts!
Reply
About dreaming: yes, if you never woke up that would become your reality of course...ancient history: Is man the dream of a shadow or is the shadow the dream of a man? (I can't recall the name of the author in this moment but it's an ancient Greek writer).
I don't agree on reality being all part of a dream state. Cause I base my understanding on the concept of "individual perception". Reality to me is what a person sees and understands through its own eyes. It's relative to one's own point of view. The closest I can get to your concept is to agree on the fact that, reality being one's own perception, then it could be compared to a dream, one's own dream of reality. But I have a problem with terms like dream and illusion cause they involve some kind of intentionality, as in "I have decided that this is how I wanna see/interpret/understand reality" and also, illusion gives me the idea that somehow, somewhere, someone has the ultimate truthful perception of reality, so everybody else who doesn't have the same perception is wrong, is illusional. I disagree on such a point of view, I don't believe in one unique ultimate truth, although that would make life much easier and comprehensible.
I agree though on the universal vibration theory. I don't know how and why it works, I can't explain it, but I can tell through experience that life forms communicate through vibrations/energy/vibes, whatever you wanna call it. Maybe it's a characteristic of these species, maybe it's spirituality, maybe it's god, maybe it's the anciest form to communicate, maybe its love......I just know that I reached the greatest high, the greatest ecstasy through music and I don't have a rational explanation for it, it just IS.
About synchronicity, creative ideas coming from the ether, I just recalled John Frusciante, guitarist with one of my favorite bands the RHCP, saying that he hears voices talking to him, giving him inspiration.....knowing the amount of drugs the guy has taken I would think straight away "schizofrenia", but then he really is inspired and inspiring, and I can see through my understanding of music how this actually makes sense. Maybe "reality" is just in between there, between the mind of a schizofrenic and a genius. Between the mind of someone who gets lost in the multitude of these voices, and who instead can actually focus better and make a sense out of it. I don't know really, this is all new to me. Certainly ain't stuff you read about in school. Interesting though.
ok, so at least you don't believe in the "Bible's God".
I like your definition of god actually. Yes, a state of awareness, a vibrational quality. Uhm,I could subscribe to that, that is if I was interested to find out about "god". But it seems to me that this is a way to get by with the other people, the ones who want to convince you about their god (Christians, Jeova's ecc...) so you can compare your idea with theirs. I don't talk about god anymore these days. I'd rather talk about spirituality. I read many years ago on a science magazine that they had scanned the brain of a person while praying and found out that we use a specific part of our brain, unused for anything else, just for the function of spirituality. I thought that was inspiring.
And what about when you are in this vibrational awareness state, do you think you are experimenting reality then? An unique reality, shared by everybody else? #poor body anyway, for century been considered just as a vehicle.....better take care of it anyway, you never know, may be surprised by its potentials one day! ;] #
Intersting talk anyway, what are you studying: phylosophy, anthropology...?
Cheers!
Reply
Just kidding, but to be honest, and to echo what you said, the greatest peace and connection I find is in music (or a flower, or a child that hasn't been taught fear) :-)
Re: "what are you studying: philosophy, anthropology...?"
Me? Study? Hardly, if anything I'm studying how to stay sane and enjoy living in the now (all in spite of myself!) :-)
Thanks for the dialogue, now I retreat into:
"Breathing in,
I relax my mind
Breathing out,
I smile"
~Thich Nhat Hanh
Reply
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