posted March 24, 2009 01:06 AM         

Anyone having a fair acquaintance with history, and evolution, will be able to recognize that this is not an entirely absurd proposition. History shows that the greatest advancements have been, for the most part, very simple, and very unpopular. Things which we now admire and honor were once called "evil". They were feared and could only be spoken of in hushed tones. Then some brave member of the species cut a path. He was never heard from again, lol. But soon someone else followed, then another. It wasnt apparent to the ones left behind, but those who dared to make the journey were rewarded in the land of the future. Today, we are impressed with all sorts of stories about the afterlife. We are assured that a terrible fate awaits suicides. For the most part, even people who insist that we must not focus on negative possibilities, but on envisioning and creating hopeful outcomes, still nod vigorously when these scary stories are told. Their fear runs deep. But what does the evidence suggest? Have any of us even bothered to investigate the matter, to the degree that it is possible on earth? I've looked into it some, and I see evidence to suggest that my theory may have a chance of being correct. I would love to hear evidence, whether in support of this, or in opposition to this, if anyone here is capable of offering it. Thanks.

posted March 24, 2009 03:41 AM         

Mother do you think they'll drop the bomb
Mother do you think they'll like this song
Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls
Ooooh aah, Mother should I build a wall

Mother should I run for president
Mother should I trust the government
Mother will they put me in the firing line
Ooooh aah, is it just a waste of time

Hush now baby, baby don't you cry
Mama's gonna make all of your
Nightmares come true
Mama's gonna put all of her fears into you
Mama's gonna keep you right here
Under her wing
She won't let you fly but she might let you sing
Mama will keep baby cosy and warm
Ooooh Babe Ooooh Babe Ooooh Babe
Of course Mama's gonna help build the wall

Mother do you think she's good enough for me
Mother do you think she's dangerous to me
Mother will she tear your little boy apart
Oooh aah, mother will she break my heart

Hush now baby, baby don't you cry
Mama's gonna check out all your girl friends for you
Mama won't let anyone dirty get through
Mama's gonna wait up till you get in
Mama will always find out where you've been
Mamma's gonna keep baby healthy and clean

Ooooh Babe Ooooh Babe Ooooh Babe
You'll always be a baby to me

posted March 24, 2009 05:02 AM         

He had a sort of 'go-with'god' energy. He lived his ideal. He lived his philosophy. He lived his passion.

What is your desire, HSC? I sense there is something inside bursting to get out and hav an impact on the world around us.

A small pebble can move a lake in its tiny ripple. The life of a butterfly can hold the fate of the world in its hands.

Two objects, inanimate and animate, have the power to make big changes without trying.

Am I replying on the wrong thread?

What is this fear you talk of? Is it related to your talent that is simmering just below the surface?

quote:

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What if taking a courageous leap of faith into the spirit world is needed?

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Let me be honest with my opinion! It is not needed. I would not encourage this act. I would only consider a discussion on this topic if someone was experiencing humiliating, devastating pain at the end of a terminal illness. All other able bodied people have the duty to carry on bearing whatever cross they have been given.

What is the swamp? Our planet? Our society?

Do you think Gandhi would have considered anywhere, but a swamp, a swamp?

posted March 24, 2009 08:15 AM         

Sorry Steve, that Kate isn't in the appropriate place. I just wanted to stop you in your tracks......

posted March 24, 2009 10:49 AM         

I too would love to see actual evidence.

Meanwhile, all we can do I suppose is try to listen out for our own inner voice which is quiet and subtle, and can't be heard when there is too much going on inside our brains. Sometimes I sense things which are impossible for me to put into words. My left brain can't comprehend it.
So it would be interesting to see actual evidence, so to speak for why we are here. Maybe one day.

Along with all the other what ifs, what if shirking this reality would disrupt the pattern of our journey through all realities as a whole?

posted March 24, 2009 02:23 PM         

It seems naive to assume we are meant to stay here,
just because we found ourselves here.

I have this urge to leave.. or, at least, explore the idea;
might not this be a call from God, too?

The fear I spoke of is the fear most people have of death by suicide.

I sense something in me that wants to get out and make an impact, yes.
I have my Sun, Venus, and Uranus conjunct the Midheaven. Not for nothin.
My talent has errupted to the surface on numerous occassions, thankfully,
but, yes, I do suspect there may be a lot more where that came from.

I admire Gandhi a lot, and dont pay much mind to the stories I've heard,
about how he was, supposedly, very difficult in personal life.
Nor do I care if he was, as some say, a masochist; who actually enjoyed his austerities.
Did you know that his political activity didnt begin until he was in his mid-thirties?
I guess it took that long for him to come to "working terms" with his highest ideals.

I don't know if he would agree with me, and so many buddhist and christian writers,
who speak of the world as a swamp and a dungheap, compared to God.
So often, though, we are instructed, in various scriptures of the world,
that we ought to regard this realm as nothing, as a turd, or will-o-the-wisp.
This is intended to make us mindful of what is beyond the world, and its greater glory.

If Gandhi had too much concern for this world,
how could he have risked his life so many times,
for the sake of something he believed in, above the world?

I have an interesting little book by Gandhi, all about the Sermon on the Mount.
I was very drawn to him, partly, because he shared my deterministic worldview
("[All your efforts to communicate the scent of the rose merely scatter it to the wind.]"),
along with Tolstoy, whose nonfiction I was reading a lot of at the time --
and who corresponded with Gandhi on the topic of non-violent resistance.

Tolstoy has some great essays, if you are not yet acquainted with them.
Particularly, "A Confession, and other religious writings".
And his book, "The Kingdom of God is Within You" is also very interesting.

From that book:

"The majority of men do not think in order to know the truth,
but, rather, to assure themselves that the life which they are living,
and which is both habitual and agreeable to them,
is the one that coincides with the truth."
~ Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy's writings were also much admired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Who knows how big a part he played in inspiring the minds, hearts, and lives
of these two great men, with his clear and ingenious presentation of the philosophy of love.

Tolstoy was also a Count, who renounced his wealth, gave his land to his serfs,
and went to live on the land with them, where he founded a school
for peasant children, and wrote the bulk of his best work.
His spiritual crisis and conversion did not begin until he was in his fifties;
with a long period of depression, meditations on death, and suicidal longings.

posted March 24, 2009 03:04 PM         

quote:

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But what does the evidence suggest? Have any of us even bothered to investigate the matter, to the degree that it is possible on earth?

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