The work ethic

image by Leunig

The town of Allopath (VIDEO)

Watch the video which is critical of mainstream western medicine (allopathy) treating symptoms rather than the causes of disease.

Near-death experiences of atheists

Atheism- apparently not a one way ticket to hell or any other particular place, according to the reports of eyewitnesses!

Relationship-plant analogy

Relationships are like plants- they are fragile in their early stages and then mature and strengthen. Early on people are more easily frightened away- care should be taken at this stage! Growth cannot be forced and will move at its own pace.

DO NOT JUDGE THIS PACE!

Each relationship takes a unique form. We shouldn't attempt to force it to fit a preconceived idea we have. It may not fit into accepted notions of society- so what? All relationships are unique and should be allowed to flower in their own time.

Each relationship requires care and attention as would a plant in your own garden. With neglect it may fade away, if harassed it may die. When treated with sensitivity and respect it is likely to thrive!

Space travel

Nothing physical is believed to be able to travel faster than the speed of light.

Therefore, given the vast size of the universe, space travel will only become truly effective when spacecraft are able to leave this physical realm and reappear within it at another location in space-time.

For this to occur there must be a shift by the travellers to another dimension of reality which allows the inhabitants to reconnect with physical reality at another point in space-time.

Currently the human race appears to be a long way from having developed such technology. However, the common sightings of apparent extra-terrestrial spacecraft in the earth’s atmosphere by reliable witnesses suggest other races have already done so.

Our greatest chance of developing successful space travel technology therefore seems to lie with opening channels of communication with such beings in the hope they would be willing to share their knowledge.

However such communication on a general scale is unlikely to occur until the human race has progressed beyond its violent and environmentally destructive ways.

For what advanced race would currently wish to provide the means for humans to spread their destructive ways throughout the universe?

Image: Overseer by Unknown

Let everything be...

and come to rest! (Once in a while!)

Respect for atheists

I like Richard Dawkins. Although I believe in a spiritual dimension of which I view this world as part, I do not blame or condemn anyone who doesn’t share this view.

People can only hold with what they have experienced to be true in their own life, and if this doesn't include evidence of other, generally unseen (but not unseeable) dimensions, then it is only right that they identify themselves as atheists or agnostics.

Such views deserve the respect given to any other form of belief!

Response to an article on "alternative" cancer treatments and their promotion

original article here

Competition in the marketplace is always a good thing whether it be health treatments or anything else, for it provides choice which we all appreciate. However, the idea is that some health treatments are more "rational" than others or have passed a greater degree of scientific scrutiny. If this is so, it needs to be communicated in a form the public readily understand.

It is only natural that people shy away from treatments that are destructive in any way. The Hippocratic Oath means that healers will avoid using such treatments, unless no other option is available and the benefits are believed to outweigh the disadvantages.

Ultimately it is the patient’s body and they will make the final choice as to what they wish to subject it to.

I believe it is useful for those who have undergone conventional and unconventional treatments to report on their experiences to help educate those who may be considering similar options.

Power to the person!

Any movement which removes authority from the individual and places it in the hands of an elected or unelected elite, I oppose!

Any movement which supports the autonomy of the individual, I support!

Fact v truth

A fact is a quality of the physical universe that is widely agreed upon. It can relate to events that are widely believed to have occurred or to physical objects or relationships between physical objects that are agreed to exist.

A truth is a different matter. Truth is generally used to refer to a deeper order of events than purely physical “facts”. Some would call this the “spiritual” level. “God is love” is an example of one widely held “truth”. Another could be “life is meaningful”. Neither of these two assertions can ever be proven in a comparable way to those of physical facts. Therefore, they are not seen as the province of physical science but rather of spiritual belief systems.

It follows that the idea that certain scientific discoveries have somehow dislodged certain spiritual truths (such as "God is love") is mistaken because scientific facts(called "supported theories") are dealing with a different order of reality.

“Truth” can only be known by an individual human whereas “facts” are widely held and easily observable by many people. "Truth" refers to an inner ordering of events whereas facts are a description of the outer order of events.

Truth can never be found “out there” in the way facts can be, but only in the recesses of one’s own (spiritual) heart!

Materialism, mind, causation and free will

Although materialists may admit that mind exists the line of causation is from matter to mind. That is, the mind is seen as just an expression of the various forms matter takes and as such is subject to the deterministic “clockwork” movement of matter. As a result there is no room for free will, the belief in which almost all social contracts are made.

Free will can only exist if the line of causation runs from mind to matter, or from mind to matter and from matter back to mind. Mind must precede matter for it to be the master. Otherwise it is just the slave to deterministic forces and has no true reality or effectiveness of its own. The other possibility is that matter is mind in motion, objectified. And as such mind and matter should move simultaneously but mind will be the driving force and matter will reflect the action of mind imprinted on the physical universe.

Neuroscience seeks to answer this question by measuring what comes first: the change in brain state (matter) or the change in consciousness (mind). This assumes that time has a reality more fundamental than mind; otherwise such findings would be meaningless. And the truth is that both theories- matter creating mind and mind creating matter would predict that brain states and mind states should occur simultaneously. And if they do not, what does that truly signify?

God and the physical universe

@Peter- if "God" is all places at all times then there is no need [for "Him"] to travel super- or sub-luminally. For if the universe is occurring within the mind of God, what problem is the laws of physics? The physical world as perceived is a construct of the human mind and the laws of physics are concepts within that construct. "God" is a word to describe that which is "larger" or prior to the human mind and as such cannot be conceived.

P.s. what I have written is meaningful to a philosopher but not to a scientist. Philosophers take the human mind as the primary truth whereas scientists take the physical universe as the primary truth and some in fact pretend the mind away! They are called "materialists".

Science=dogma, religion=dogma

For science the dogma is whatever theories are currently in vogue, generally these are grouped around a central belief- such as the primary reality being matter, not mind, and the belief that mind is purely a creation of matter.

For religion the dogma is whatever interpretation church elders place upon their "holy books".

Both are subject to change but generally at a glacial pace, particularly in the case of religion.

In both "cults of belief" dogmas are almost impossible to crack for you must first sign up to believe in the dogmas before the cults will even allow you a voice. And even then any sign of disagreement will most likely get you thrown out of the club!

It is the rare person that can go through the indoctrination machine and come out the other side with a mind free enough of dogma to be able to challenge it!

Sharka Todd

Science: the study of appearances

The appearance of something is not the same as its underlying reality but try telling that to a scientist!

For the study of science is the study of appearances: the “outward” nature of things, rather than their “inward nature”, which we could perhaps call "the contents of consciousness".

It is this "inner nature" which is so real to each of us- indeed it is our only experienced reality- and yet it is ignored by science, particularly the physical sciences, which hold such sway over the thinking of mankind.

Because this content of consciousness cannot be placed in time and space or viewed with the 5 outwardly focused senses (as it is not material in the ordinary sense) it is ignored and pretended away into non-existence.

The end result of this is a society that thinks only physical things are real, that life is ultimately meaningless and that existence ends when the body ceases to function.

This is due to placing too much emphasis on the physical sciences which only deal with a small fraction of reality- the physical domain.

Science is unnecessary as a lens on reality

Science is unneeded as an intermediary between oneself and reality. Life is far richer than any description that a construct of the human mind, such as science, is capable of producing.

Observation with a still mind and alert senses remains our greatest window into life, whereas seeing life through the lens of any theory- whether it be "scientific" or "religious"- only distorts and limits our vision and understanding.

People of a scientific or skeptical bent will tell you that our senses cannot be trusted and that we must trust the pronouncements of science above our own observations and experiences.

But I am telling you that there is no scientific tool or technique that can replace or compare to the meditating human being in gaining a clear and deep understanding of life!

Sharka Todd

Intuition: our inner guidance system

Our strongest, easiest, most direct path in life to our goals is known not with the mind (i.e. thought, based on logic and past experience) but with the intuition (which is felt within the body-mind as a subtle sensation).

Intuition straddles space and time where all is one and is our voice from our non-physical selves. It gives subtle communications that we need to listen to if we wish to make our lives simpler, more effective, more joyful and more flowing.

The sensation of intuition is gauged when we are focused upon a possible course of action by the sensation of resistance or allowing within the body.

First we need to become mentally quiet while being focused on a possible course of action and then we guage the feeling within our body as to whether it is soft and non-resistant (a clear path) or resistant (a path of suffering/resistance).

In this way we can choose the path of least resistance and maximum joy!

Here is an excellent video by Judith Orloff explaining how to sense intuition.

The "divine" and the laws of physics- two sides of the one coin?

What one person may call “divine order” another may call “the laws of physics”.

Some see the beauty and majesty of life and say “God” whereas others just say "life".

The more beauty one sees the more likely one is to evoke the divine. But for others "the divine" has no meaning. Everything is just matter, whether beautiful or not.

For the spiritualist everything is proof of God, or the divine’s existence, but for the materialist everything is seen as just a manifestation of immutable physical laws causing the movement of matter and energy through space and time with no special meaning attached!