/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13344364]

>I first get into Buddhism after a relative gifts me Walpola Rahula's book when I'm 15
>'holy shit, this is the truth', I start meditating often, it helps me avoid unhappiness throughout my teenage years and 20's
>I feel sorry for people who belief in God and who suffer because of their attachment to their selves
>read a bunch of Pali Canon discourses, attend Theravada and Vipassana retreats and meet a bunch of cool people, I'm happy but I'm still not totally satisfied
>start learning about Mahayana, start to read through Madhyamika and Yogachara stuff, it keeps me engaged for a while, the philosophy is really interesting but I can't shake the feeling that it's not the whole truth, it still feels like it's lacking something and is just abstraction
>At the recommendation of one of my meditation teachers some years later I read through some Chan and Zen sutras, I learn a lot from them and they really help me 'get in the zone' while I meditate but I don't feel like it's enough
>After doing reading online I eventually stumble onto Tibetan Buddhism and begin to read stuff about Dzogchen and Mahamudra 'Whoa, this is crazy; this might really be it'. I read through a bunch of Tibetan stuff like a maniac and begin to feel enlightened but then after a few weeks I realize I'm still the same old me and I was just deluding myself into thinking I was and none of that Tibetan stuff was taught by Buddha anyway.
>see people memeing on /lit/ about Advaita Vedanta, I had never heard about it before and I thought that Buddha had refuted Hinduism in the PC, "huh maybe I'll look into it, simply as a curiosity'
>people tell me to read Guenon first, I read his book on Vedanta and it was interesting but I don't see what the fuss is all about though
>I finally order some of Shankara's commentaries on the Upanishads and begin to read through them to see what the deal is
>HOLY SHIT, it is the most beautiful, intricate and intuitive system of metaphysics I've ever read. Shankara has amazing powers of insight and analysis, like a combination of Plato and Buddha; unlike anything I've ever read. It's like Buddhism but more logical and all the paradoxes and questions that Buddha never answered are answered logically; and you feel immense bliss right there just from reading it without even meditating
>It hits me like a freight train near the end of his Katha Upanishad commentary that it's all true, Brahman is real and is the transcendent innermost Self but not the egoistic self of Buddhism.
>From that moment I feel an unending perpetual bliss and inner peace, I've never felt this before, this is really it
>I realize that I've been lied to or told mistaken info all this time, most Buddhists have no idea what Vedanta/Hinduism is actually about
>when I look back at all my Buddhism books I feel like a teenage looking at my old LEGOS and think about how much time was wasted, the regret is only matched by the bliss I still feel to this moment

anyone else know this feel?

[Anonymous No.13344376]

>>13344364
>anyone else know this feel?
Yes. I realized it when I read that the Buddha did not teach that there was no self, just that a not-self attitude is a path to liberation.

[Anonymous No.13344389]

your history suggests that in the near future you will start to feel dissatisfied, maybe realizing that all along you were dissatisfied and that your current feeling of bliss is largely self-deception. eventually you will look back on your hindu phase with the same embarrassment you have for your buddhist phase. you might realize that your life is not a story climaxing with some grand insight, but probably not. more likely you will cycle through different worldviews, each time thinking you've found that answer you need and each time growing restless once the novelty wears off

[Anonymous No.13344469]

>>13344364
>read all this shit
>post fucking wojaks next to your personal religious journey
something tells me >>13344389 is completely right

[Anonymous No.13344497]

Recommended books for the upanishads?

[Anonymous No.13344576]

>>13344389
This happened a long while ago but the bliss remains and I decided to share my experience
>>13344497
Shankara's Upanishad commentaries are phenomenal, I recommend reading them in the following order below starting with the eight Upanishads Vol.1

http://estudantedavedanta.net/Eight-Upanisads-Vol-1.pdf
http://estudantedavedanta.net/Eight-Upanisads-vol2.pdf
https://archive.org/details/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda
https://archive.org/details/Shankara.Bhashya-Chandogya.Upanishad-Ganganath.Jha.1942.English

[Anonymous No.13344728]

>>13344364
This happened to me except with Catholicism and Gnosticism.

[Anonymous No.13344764]

>>13344364
This happened with me. In fact, I even read much of the Buddhist literature you referenced and went to numerous Zazenkais at a Soto Zen monastery. However, it ended in Zoroastrianism and the Gathas for me. It's best to just keep things simple: There is a good and evil, pick the good. What is good? Three antidotes. What is evil? Three poisons. They never blur, ever.

No need to make it anymore convoluted with gay-ass nondualistic shit. I just stick to a rudimentary kind of dualism and keep it at that.

[Anonymous No.13344780]

>>13344497
I don't know, I'm just evading a ban because all mods are fucking Jewish scum.

[Anonymous No.13344863]

>>13344364

[Anonymous No.13344979]

>>13344728
what was the gnostic text that did it for you?

[Anonymous No.13345032]

I was really into eastern religions for a year and a half.

I really like Jesus. It makes me kind of sad and confused that nobody wants Jesus nowadays. John's gospel is pretty immense.

Modern people can't get over their materialist/Epicurean hang ups. God feels distant so nobody can accept the idea of him loving or becoming flesh. Paul did not have much luck preaching to the Athenians, maybe nothing really changed.

One of the great things about Jesus is that he helps one to live in a kind of spiritual communion with others. Something like community enlightenment... otherwise known as love.

[Anonymous No.13345097]

>>13344576
Thanks man

[Anonymous No.13345125]

>>13344364
Name a single "truth" you actually learned.

[Anonymous No.13345169]

>>13344979
The Apocryphon of John.

>And I said, 'He who hears, let him get up from the deep sleep.' And he wept and shed tears. Bitter tears he wiped from himself and he said, 'Who is it that calls my name, and from where has this hope come to me, while I am in the chains of the prison?'

[Anonymous No.13345312]

>>13344364
you could have just read the corpus hermeticum...

[Anonymous No.13345379]

>>13344364
fake story desu
at least you get to enjoy the bliss of union with the godhead
too bad that isn't the end and you could've got the same thing from most other mystical systems, even occult shit like working with your HGA

[Anonymous No.13345387]

I can't take you seriously when you say that you had such fervor for Theravada and Mahayana all those years ago, and that you were only childish in retrospect, yet display that same fervor now for a new and shinier belief system because it is logically consistent on paper and described in beautiful prose. It's like a teenager who looks back on his goth phase three years ago going, "Isn't it incredible how stupid I was?", and the irony of it all is lost on him.

[Anonymous No.13345399]

>>13345169
wtf is that passage supposed to even mean

[Anonymous No.13345411]

>>13344364
>questions that Buddha never answered are answered logically
t. lied about studying the PC
the Buddha gave reasons for not answering the questions he was asked, because they were based in false premises, most often based in objectification, which he rejected

[Anonymous No.13345428]

>>13345387
how do any of us escape this general pattern? will i ever stop embarrassing my future self? is death real? will i ever be granted permanent nonexistence? should i call off work tomorrow?

[Anonymous No.13345454]

>>13345411
Just because Buddha chose not to answer various questions doesn't mean that they shouldn't be, or that they can't be answered correctly and logically. If someone is capable of doing so in a clear manner then it is better to do so than to not.

[Anonymous No.13345485]

>>13345454
he gave logical reasons for not answering the questions though
the reasons were that the questions were based in objectification of sensory experience/sense "objects"
this is what the entire system of dependent origination is about, which so many people seem to ignore for some reason

[Anonymous No.13345495]

>>13345454
Eh, I mean that's not consistent logic. If someone says "what's 5 + # = ?"

Like there exists no operator that adds '5' and "#" so that's a nonsensical question. If a question is based on a faulty premise, then it's not worth addressing. You COULD answer such a question in a way that seems logical like:
5 + # = 5#
or
5 + # = ######

Problem with that is you're defining the operator as well as the solution. Both of those answers could be correct depending on the operator definition, so while a specific definition makes them consistent it's also meaningless because the definition of the operator isn't inherent of consistent across individuals.

So I'd side with Buddha on this one, but wtf do I know. I'm just an engineer who think philosophy is fucking pointless.

[Anonymous No.13345511]

>>13345485
Those various unanswered questions regarding his system, some of which are pretty serious like why and how does dependent origination exist (among various other questions) can't be shown as bad or faulty by the buddhist though without resorting to self-serving justifications that stem from the aforesaid still non fully-explainded teaching. That sort of circular reasoning may satisfy Buddhists but when stacked up against other people and schools who can actually answer some of those questions Buddhism sometimes compares unfavorably to them.

[Anonymous No.13345536]

>>13344364
read Way of the Pilgrim and learned properly how to say the Jesus prayer

[Anonymous No.13345573]

>>13345511
I think in the context of attaining nibbana, knowing
>why and how does dependent origination exist
is not relevant and in fact may even be detrimental (that is, a distraction). The Buddha really only makes a few claims, the Four Noble Truths, and his philosophy is only concerned with suffering and the cessation of suffering. All that he teaches is a scaffold to that end, in a certain sense none of it is even true, because the ultimate truth beyond analogy or description. It's just a scaffold. So yes, he leaves many questions unanswered, but his path does result in the cessation of suffering.

At any rate, it doesn't harm the investigation of those answers to achieve nibbana first, nor is that achievement necessarily difficult (see Bhante Vimalaramsi's work). And since our present existence is a relatively short and uncertain one, we should go for the low-hanging fruit first and then begin climbing the tree.

May you all be free from suffering in this very life.

[Anonymous No.13345634]

>>13345573
the teaching of dependent origination is conventional and like all views and sense experiences, ultimately "existence" and "non-existence" can't really be ascribed to it.
The whole point of the teaching is to point the way to the realization of the ever-present reality of Nirvana.
The teaching of dependent origination itself is not ultimately reality, since reality/the unprepared/unconditioned cannot possibly be realized solely by use of logic, which is dependent on conditions, prepared.
The role of logic in Buddhism is to point in the direction of the truth, without itself being the truth. People are expecting the Buddha to establish ultimate truth by use of logic, which cannot be done - and I would be skeptical of any claim that it can be done - that ultimate, unprepared reality can be understood through something prepared like rationalism.

[Anonymous No.13345742]

It doesn't sound like you went very deep with your meditation practice. I don't know if this is because you don't have much aptitude for developing concentration, or because you did not maintain a sufficiently strenuous daily practice (unless you are exceptionally gifted, you can't expect to make long term progress if you're doing less than 90 minutes to 2 hours per day; if you do less, your practice will tune you up and help you 'avoid unhappiness' in the short term, since you are buffing up your concentration a little bit without getting into insight territory, but the effect will dissipate rapidly when you stop), or perhaps because you never connected with a good teacher, but if you had really been meditating for ten or fifteen years on the regular in a way that was actually skillful and productive (again, productive beyond temporarily staving off negative emotions) you would have made enough progress not to succumb to doubts like this, drifting around looking for something else. Meditation practice is harder for some people than others of course. Especially suspicious is your emphasis on the intellectual 'bliss' of discovering a conceptual system you consider to be the most rational and beautiful; this suggests that you never even made enough progress in meditation to make the non-conceptual insights that are the real marrow of what the Buddha dharma is all about; or at least, if you got any of that, you didn't get much, because if you go far enough the idea of doubting the teachings to the extent that you have becomes ridiculous and impossible.

p.s. All bliss is temporary. The mind has an almost unlimited capacity for growing bored of what it already has. Your current state of satisfaction will not last.

[Anonymous No.13345860]

>>13345742
Do i need to meditate for two hours all in one go or could i have two one-hour sessions each day?

[Anonymous No.13345934]

>>13345860
Frequency is more important than length, at least on the daily level, obviously not a good idea to split those 2hrs into 10 sessions a day. I would split them into 1hr sessions each when you get out of bed and before you go to bed. Unless you feel the full 2hrs is more 'productive' for your particular state, as it may be for you but not so for another. You want the fruits of meditation to suffuse your life in general, so having more sessions keeps that up. The worst thing is sectioning it off into just the session and being minimally affected outside of it.

[Anonymous No.13346066]

>>13345860
>Do i need to meditate for two hours all in one go

No, actually this is not recommended at all. A session of sitting meditation should not go longer than an hour. 40 minutes - 1 hour is the sweet spot. After one hour the tendency is for the mind to go dull; doing this regularly can form a bad habit. Less than 40 minutes is OK of course if you don't have the time, or if you're still working your way up to longer sits, but doing less is not ideal for getting the most out of your time. It usually takes 5-10 minutes to settle your mind down and 'get in the groove' as it were - you want at least half an hour of further practice after that, or else too much of your sitting time is being spent on the less productive settling-down stage.

Also, it is not recommended to do this much daily practice without the supervision of a teacher, for many reasons but especially because there is difficult territory that you will *probably* (not necessarily, but probably) run into at some point down the line if you're making steady progress. It usually isn't that bad, but some people can find it very destabilizing, and all the more so if you have no one to talk to who could shed light on what's happening to you. Some meditators will choose to stop practicing when they encounter these difficulties, but that may only make things worse - the way out is through.

Physical practices can also be very useful adjuncts, like hatha yoga or walking meditation, to distribute mindfulness into the body and help deepen your sits.

[Anonymous No.13346143]

>>13345934
>>13346066
Thanks guys. I'm using the mind illuminated as my meditation guide and im currently on step two, probably going to start looking at step three soon as i feel my periods of mind-wandering are very short.
I also wanted to get more serious with the teachings of buddhism so i'm currently reading in the buddhas words by bhikkhu bodhi but i'm finding his translations to be quite difficult compared to some other translations i've seen online. Any recommendations or should i just try to stick with it?

[Anonymous No.13346155]

>>13344364
Buddhism teaches that suffering comes from life. This is a lie. Suffering comes from evil.

[Anonymous No.13346166]

I've done my master's thesis on Schopenhauer so I was immersed in The World as Will and Representation and related literature for a whole year. Suddenly all the mystical stuff in Schopenhauer (and there's a lot actually) made sense to me. The most profound Hindu insight, Atman = Brahman, is all there in Schopenhauer in different terms.

[Anonymous No.13346169]

>>13346143
I also began with TMI but despite numerous attempts found it quite tedious and difficult to maintain. Anapanasati will lead to nibbana if practiced correctly but it's not the only path.

I recommend the works of Bhante Vimalaramsi and his style of Metta meditation. I found it much more enjoyable and also much more conductive toward changing every day behavior. At the very least take a look at his lecture on the breathing meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvKXaY2Dt3c

His version of Right Effort really does make a difference. Even Culadasa talks about something similar (let it come, let it be, let it go; take a moment to feel good for waking up from a distraction), though he doesn't quite emphasize the necessity of generating a wholesome state nor really give direct instruction on how to do so. It's as simple as relaxing and smiling, yet it makes a profound difference in the practice.

[Anonymous No.13346223]

I'll post once before going to sleep.
You guys probably don't know what true meditation is. I had practiced trascendental meditation for over 10 years. I thought I progressed in my path and thought I knew what meditation was about. Well, that was until I met an actual yogi.

The dude could change his heartbeats at will (no pranayama), had absolute brahmacharya, and healed people. I met him by chance while looking for tai chi classes in the web in latin america. The guy had a level of coherence in the way he talked and move completely different to anyone I had met. Over the years, he teached me yoga, stuff about human energy, healing and how to silence my mind.

A real meditation expert can actually induce others into exalted states. If he can't do that, it means his conciousness isn't developed enough. When you reach the possibility of actually manipulating both your state and those around you by your sheer will, it means you know what meditation is truly about. It has nothing to do with your mind. It is the possibility of going beyond any agitaition (mind, emotions, sentiments) at any moment. The thing is that it requires you to have a lot of energy. How you can accumulate that energy is the real hard part, since it demands you to change your lifestyle towards a life aligned with your higher Will, never betraying your most profound wish.

So, my advice for anyone searching for something with meditation techinques is don't get too attached to techinques, philosophies or the search itself, those mean nothing but the ABC, and become obstacles in the long run.

Real meditation is tuning into absolute silence by will (even with your eyes open in your daily activites). This is the first step finally removing the fake self and being one with all that it is, pure conciousness. Keep focused bros, and don't fall into any obsession, not even spiritual ones.

[Anonymous No.13346237]

>Tfw you found Advaita first and didn't have to go through the cringey Buddhism phase first "nothing is real lmao"
Totally established in Atma-Jnana, safe and sound. Feels good man. The wisdom of the wise, the strength of the strong.

[Anonymous No.13346239]

>>13346237
Oops forgot the pic.

[Anonymous No.13346299]

>>13345032
Consider how the West in all cultural, technological, societal aspects resembles Rome in its decline. So is with Christianity, it seems to me, it will be reverting to its early state, where the christians will be few and, openly or not, persecuted, however burning with this primordial Faith of the evangelists and the desert fathers in a world of growing sloth and decaying virtue. So do not despair, if you do not see faith in others, it is around but deeply hidden.

[Anonymous No.13346389]

>>13346155
what, life is suffering? omg i've never looked at it this way i'm enlightened I've felt pain and discomfort for years but never did i stop to think it's actually LIFE that caused all this. omg wtf

[Anonymous No.13346394]

>>13346389
Do you even understand what I wrote ?

[Anonymous No.13346400]

>>13346394
yes, you say suffering comes from evil, so I assume you're setting up some moral system through which you can divide the world into good and evil, which I think is fundamentally flawed and dishonest as well.

[Anonymous No.13346401]

>>13344364
The ride has merely just begun. Next stop is kashmir shaivism and abhinavadgupta, OP san :3

[Anonymous No.13346424]

>>13346400
Do you think that morality is subjective or something to that effect ? You think your view is correct, ie good and mine is dishonest, ie evil. So you're very nonsensical and hypocritical.

[Anonymous No.13346440]

>>13346237
Advaita is a creation of indian philosophers, it is pure shit

[Anonymous No.13346447]

>>13346424
there's nothing "good" about my view, nor do i think there is anything "evil" about yours. It's too simplistic to impose this duality on reality. The world around us simply is, the metaphysical layer we humans impose on it should not be regarded as part of it. It comes into being through a process inside the human brain, and is not a thing-in-itself.

[Anonymous No.13346451]

>>13346155
>Buddhism teaches that suffering comes from life
Can you find me a source on this pls? I've been taught "there is dukkha and dukkha is caused by trishna", which is quite different.

[Anonymous No.13346471]

>>13346447
>human brain
surely you meant 'mind' or 'geist'

[Anonymous No.13346481]

>>13346471
Are you trying to place the mind outside the human brain again? We've been over this so often it's just getting boring. Guess I'll "fuck off to /sci/"

[Anonymous No.13346497]

>>13346481
>but anon, when you destroy the radio, the radio signal is still there

[Anonymous No.13346501]

>>13346451
After a bit of research I learned that dukkha doesn't actually mean suffering. My mistake. It's just that in my tongue, it was always translated as suffering, and so it didn't make sense to me. Fuck translations. But even then, life can sometimes be sort of "satisfactory", when you learn, when you study, when you accomplish good things, or when you merely enjoy life without thinking joy is something that is due to you.
>>13346447
>there's nothing "good" about my view, nor do i think there is anything "evil" about yours.
Then they could be considered as equally valid.
>It's too simplistic to impose this duality on reality.
No, it's too simplistic to remove it.
>The world around us simply is
Yes.
>the metaphysical layer we humans impose on it should not be regarded as part of it
I'm not talking about the world, I'm talking about humans. Evil humans totally exist, and that's not a matter of opinion, when you have people consciously choosing to make people suffer unnecessarily.

[Anonymous No.13346512]

>>13344364
>he now believes in thousand armed effeminate blue men instead
cringe

[Anonymous No.13346521]

>>13344364
>It's like Buddhism but more logical
maybe because it actually IS Buddhism in disguise considering Shankara was a crypto-buddhist

that's probably why you felt like it resonated with you, you always had buddhistic inclinations.

[Anonymous No.13346526]

This happened to me except with Vedanta into Mainlander's Wille Zum Tode

[Anonymous No.13346536]

>>13344780
Based

[Anonymous No.13346546]

>>13346501
>Then they could be considered as equally valid.

I don't think that's the case. Simply using logical razors we can shave off a bunch of unnecessary crap and be left with clear explanations for the things we observe in the surrounding world. This removes the need for any additional metaphysical speculation.

>No, it's too simplistic to remove it.

I should've phrased it differently, i.e. that it's unnecessary to impose the duality.

>Evil humans totally exist, and that's not a matter of opinion ..

This statement was made through the metaphysical system we are trying to debate. Due to this, it does not further the discussion but simply forces me to state once more why I don't view the world through this dualistic lens.

[Anonymous No.13346565]

>>13346546
*moral system

[Anonymous No.13346585]

>>13346546
Morality is logical though. Do you think a rapist is not evil ?

[Anonymous No.13346607]

>>13346585
I think he is evil in the sense that his thoughts and actions pose a threat to the rest of society, and that he should therefore be removed from it. What I, however, don't subscribe to is the idea of there being some fundamental morality engrained in the world around us, what could be called "karma" i suppose

[Anonymous No.13346621]

>>13344764
You gonna explain yourself chief or just sit there and spend a paragraph saying nothing?

[Anonymous No.13346628]

>>13345125
you're mom gay

[Anonymous No.13346633]

>>13345495
Why are you even here then you fucking retard.

[Anonymous No.13346915]

>>13344863
ooOOOOooOOOoooOoooO bbbbbbbBBBBBBBBBBASED

[Anonymous No.13346939]

>>13344364

Have you studied Christianity any, anon? I'm curious about what your perspective is. Have you read Aldous Huxley's The Perennial Philosophy? He suggests a kind of common factor that Hinduism, Buddhism and Christian mysticism all share. Anything to it?

[Anonymous No.13346966]

>>13344979

Hey would you mind sharing your story, anon? What books would you recommend? Do you consider the new testament to be corrupt, or have been corrupted at some point, what role does it have for your life now?

[Anonymous No.13347190]

>>13346143
Bodhi is good as an intro to the basic concepts.
If you wanna go deeper, explore the nikayas and read the suttas here
http://obo.genaud.net/backmatter/indexes/sutta/sutta_toc.htm
and for secondary texts, the very best I know of are available for free here:
http://seeingthroughthenet.net/books/

[Anonymous No.13347203]

>>13346155
no it teaches that suffering comes from ignorance (not understanding experience as it truly is, falling for illusions, greed, hate, and delusion) - not the world

[Anonymous No.13347213]

>>13346237
>nothing is real
ehhh that's more like the western hippie nihilist interpretation than an actual reflection of Buddhist teachings

[Anonymous No.13347234]

>>13346501
>But even then, life can sometimes be sort of "satisfactory", when you learn, when you study, when you accomplish good things, or when you merely enjoy life without thinking joy is something that is due to you.
The Buddha acknowledges that life has enjoyable qualities and that there is satisfactory elements to it - the point is that the satisfaction is transitory and inferior to Nirvana - but he acknowledges worldly pleasure nonetheless:
>"And what is the bliss of having? There is the case where the son of a good family has wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained. When he thinks, 'I have wealth earned through my efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of my arm, and piled up through the sweat of my brow, righteous wealth righteously gained,' he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of having.

>"And what is the bliss of [making use of] wealth? There is the case where the son of a good family, using the wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, partakes of his wealth and makes merit. When he thinks, 'Using the wealth earned through my efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of my arm, and piled up through the sweat of my brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, I partake of wealth and make merit,' he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of [making use of] wealth.

>"And what is the bliss of debtlessness? There is the case where the son of a good family owes no debt, great or small, to anyone at all. When he thinks, 'I owe no debt, great or small, to anyone at all,' he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of debtlessness.

>"And what is the bliss of blamelessness? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones is endowed with blameless bodily kamma, blameless verbal kamma, blameless mental kamma. When he thinks, 'I am endowed with blameless bodily kamma, blameless verbal kamma, blameless mental kamma,' he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of blamelessness.

[Anonymous No.13347273]

>>13344364
Hey OP, Mahayana (Zen) Buddhist here.
I kinda feel you. Jumping from one tradition to next, being sucked into it, then switching to next one as soon as stumbled upon something I didn't understand. But it doesn't really work, does it?
What I think you should do is reconsider Buddhism. Mahayana's teaching are way more profound than they appear, and they are worth further study. Advaita Vedanta tradition was heavily influenced by Mahayana, which expounds the doctrine of One Mind and Emptiness, which shares some similarities with Brahman, although it differs from it quite soundly. Korean Seon would be good place to start, as they differ a bit from traditional Zen approach and are also interested in finding your true Self. Have a look into it, especially books from Master Seung Sahn, like Dropping the Ashes on Buddha.


Whatever you choose, I wish you best luck on your spiritual path.

[Anonymous No.13347403]

>>13344364
>anyone else know this feel?
yes, but in an occidental way

>first get into Stoicism when my mother suffers terrible illness as a teenager and I read Meditations
>read even more by Seneca, Epictetus, etc.
>begin to deeply understand the bold truth of externals being outside your control and morally neutral
>start valuing my own will/conviction towards virtue as the only thing of moral weight
>stress tolerance goes through the roof
>become somewhat of a badass in cadet business
>begin to pity my former self and others for letting trivialities shake their character
>Logos theology deepens my Christian faith
>Amor Fati means I became more courageous
>understanding this means I become more materially successful (gf, swole, ambitious) but rest easy knowing how fleeting and fragile it is, yet inconsequential

[Anonymous No.13347843]

>>13345032
Christianity is just not original. There is nothing in Jesus or the Christ narrative that isn't available somewhere else and also isn't shackled to the jews.

[Anonymous No.13347865]

>>13347403
good stuff

[Anonymous No.13347888]

>>13346607
Why preserve society? Because it feels good?

[Anonymous No.13348722]

>>13345634
>>13345573
Thanks for for maintaining your discussion in a respectful way

[Anonymous No.13348753]

>>13344364
Why would a person likeyou ever go on 4chan and post on /lit/
Gore threads seem like the antithesis of Buddhism

[Anonymous No.13348761]

Is there any actual doctrine in Bhuddism?

What would make you a Bhuddist, calling yourself one?

[Anonymous No.13348790]

>>13348753
>Gore threads seem like the antithesis of Buddhism
quite the opposite really
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara%E1%B9%87asati

[Anonymous No.13348817]

>>13346633
Because I keep hoping to find phiolosphy fags who aren't retarded. Been let down every time so far.

[Anonymous No.13348870]

>>13347403
Can I suck your dick?

[Anonymous No.13349146]

>>13347843
Name one pre-Christian religion in which the monotheistic creator God becomes human.

[Anonymous No.13349170]

>>13349146
but I thought Jesus was fully god :^)

[Anonymous No.13349174]

>>13349170
he's fully god and fully human
somehow
...m-mysterious ways

[Anonymous No.13349185]

>>13349174
Correct
>>13349170
Correct

What is impossible for God? Especially God who has already made man in his image, who is already the Holy Spirit which makes life, who is a Being whose self knowledge is so perfect it necessarily manifests as an eternal Word, like a reflection in a mirror except entirely real?

[Anonymous No.13349195]

>>13349170
So are you, the Father is the creator

[Anonymous No.13349205]

>>13349195
This is incorrect. Jesus was God the Son. No human was or will be God except the Son.

[Anonymous No.13349235]

>>13349205
Does not David himself say "Ye are Gods?"

[Anonymous No.13349242]

>>13345169
Excellent verse.
For me it was the Book of Thomas the Contender:
>Therefore it is said, "Everyone who seeks the truth from true wisdom will make himself wings so as to fly, fleeing the lust that scorches the spirits of men."

[Anonymous No.13349250]

>>13349185
>What is impossible for God?
Many things actually. Not being God. Being stupid. Being temporal. Being evil. Being a creature. Being weak. etc etc etc...
>God who has already made man in his image
His image must not be very beautiful then...thankfully this is (obviously) false.
>who is a Being whose self knowledge is so perfect it necessarily manifests as an eternal Word, like a reflection in a mirror except entirely real
...what ? Do these mad ramblings even mean anything ?

[Anonymous No.13349252]

>>13345742
What even is a "non-conceptual insight"?

[Anonymous No.13349273]

>>13348870
post bob and vagene

[Anonymous No.13349280]

>>13349250
>impossible
God means master basically, but it is implied in the Bible that you are a sort of one. He could also willfully make Himself reborn as something, as evident with Christ. You mean flesh? Temporal? Check on that with the last answer, evil? God has actually done things we would consider evil but were necessary and righteous, like murder. A creature? Isn't that a being? Being weak? The meek will inherit the world
>Beauty
More women for me I guess if you don't find any human beautiful
>an attempt to not understand to avoid agreeing

[Anonymous No.13349284]

>>13349250
>Mad ramblings
God is not a static thing. God is a dynamic being capable of contemplation, creation and historical manifestation. He is both beyond and throughout time.

God has a perfect knowledge of creation, and also a perfect self-knowledge. For God to know God perfectly manifests as a "second" God which we call the Logos/Word. The relationship between God the Father and God the Word is characterized by knowledge and love, and forms a "third" God which we call the Spirit.

All of this approaches by analogy. As humans we are almost hopelessly incapable of knowing God. But we may know things about God which he has revealed to us because he desires for humans to seek him. He has designed us to be capable of knowing enough about him so as to desire to love him.

This revelation of God to humankind is most perfectly captured in the person of Jesus Christ, who existed in history as a real flesh-and-blood man, and who has existed eternally as the Word.

[Anonymous No.13349292]

>>13349284
>>13349280
Christians are so drowned in their deluded ideology it's almost not funny.

[Anonymous No.13349296]

>>13349250
Man made in the image of God does not mean man looks like God. It means humans have a special imprint of the divine stamped onto their souls, which gives us our capacity for a kind of free will and the exercise of rational thought.

The image of God in each person makes them capable and worthy of love, which is an act of choice.

[Anonymous No.13349300]

BUDDHISM NEVER MENTIONS MEDITATION ONCE. IF YOU WANT TO FEEL CALM, TAKE SOME XANAX OR GET A LOBOTOMY.

[Anonymous No.13349302]

>>13349292
>DUDE MYSTERIOUS WAYS JUST TRUST ME ON THIS

[Anonymous No.13349308]

>>13349292
What answer would satisfy your desire for knowledge?

I'm not sure why you don't just assume maybe you are incorrect on this, despite any evidence at all ever. Not once have you even said "maybe"

[Anonymous No.13349314]

>>13349300
based and kenwheeler-pilled

[Anonymous No.13349317]

>>13349296
>It means humans have a special imprint of the divine stamped onto their souls
I think this has pretty much been disproven by the entirety of human history.
>The image of God in each person makes them capable and worthy of love, which is an act of choice.
I don't think you can choose the people you love and the people you hate. You can choose the worldview that will make you love or hate such and such.

[Anonymous No.13349331]

>>13349292
Christianity looks bonkers when viewed from certain non-Christian worldviews. I am a convert and am well aware of that.

It is not just a series of claims or theories about reality. It is impossible to isolate Christianity from its experiential, communitarian and sacramental dimensions. It is impossible to understand the Christian life without encountering Christ: in the Eucharist, in prayer, in the act of human love; all of which contribute to the formation of Faith.

[Anonymous No.13349333]

>>13349308
>What answer would satisfy your desire for knowledge?
Where have I stated a desire to learn anything from christians ? I know exactly what they think, and most importantly, how they think. If one can call it thinking. I even tried to be one at some point, never felt more horrible and wrong in my life.

[Anonymous No.13349348]

>>13349331
Yeah I know that. It means that basically you must agree with christianity before being convinced by it. Which is...many things, including scary and funny.

[Anonymous No.13349355]

>>13349333
Oh, alright then. Well you should reconsider

[Anonymous No.13349361]

>>13349348
>It means that basically you must agree with christianity before being convinced by it
100% this. A large problem imo
and also if you're not convinced? sorry sweetie you're going to hell for eternity :)

[Anonymous No.13349362]

>>13349355
You should reconsider using your critical thinking and your curiosity for better worldviews.

[Anonymous No.13349373]

>>13349348
I find the phrase "agree with Christianity" rather strange. People become Christians for all sorts of reasons. I am aware of some of the things which drew me into the Church, but I cannot fully understand how it happened. Our ability to self understand is profoundly limited. We are often unaware of our intentions and motivations.

One of the main reasons people become Christians is by witnessing Christians live. They see a marked difference in how Christians behave and speak. They wonder what is going on with these strange people.

A problem in our time is that many people who self identify as Christian do not seem to live very differently from non-Christians. Faith is perhaps measured in the extent to which Christianity changes how one goes about life. I can certainly see why that is a frightening notion.

[Anonymous No.13349378]

>>13349362
Wow did you just compliment me? Well, here's a secret man, I'm just some guy. I personally have always considered facts before anything else, even in religion. For a long time I didn't ever try to convince anyone of a religious stance because I didn't feel that I had enough evidence.

Then, and deny it all you want, I saw an angel. I asked God to help and send one, and He did. There is no denying it now and there is no more such thing as a worldview to me, there is only a fact about the creation of the universe and that is that His hand was in it and always will be.

But thank you. I actually realized I'm pretty good at arguing lately, anything I could give you some easy quips for? I love promoting racism

[Anonymous No.13349406]

>>13349373
>I find the phrase "agree with Christianity" rather strange.
It isn't, just means you're ready to become a christian.
>People become Christians for all sorts of reasons.
Yes indeed.
>They see a marked difference in how Christians behave and speak. They wonder what is going on with these strange people.
It's not like every religious group claims this about himself, including jews and muslims.

[Anonymous No.13349428]

>>13344576
Do they explain what brahman is? And why they say Om all the time? I'm completely new to Hindu thought so just wondering if I should read something before getting into this.

[Anonymous No.13349448]

>>13349378
>I personally have always considered facts before anything else, even in religion.
Now that just makes me smile.
>Then, and deny it all you want, I saw an angel.
Whatever, doesn't impress me. Can be all sorts of reasons for it, including a devil (not gonna lie, that's probable), drugs, and a real one, but even if you saw a real one (and I doubt that very much) it doesn't mean anything about you.
>there is only a fact about the creation of the universe and that is that His hand was in it and always will be.
That fact is quite simple and not exclusive to christianity in any way. In fact christianity takes you away from the creator by instilling an intermediate, just like judaism which says God is located at the Temple. You can't even worship the Creator of the universe normally, no you have to rely on a human people said was God. In badly written books.
>I actually realized I'm pretty good at arguing lately
Christians are prideful. Because they're humans and they're told a human is God.

[Anonymous No.13349487]

>>13349448
God is in everything, even you. He made you, deny it or not

I was not on drugs, though I like them, a devil will never promote religion

And, it does, and yes, I am prideful

[Anonymous No.13349495]

hell is probably the main reason why I wouldn't be a christian, why does it have to be eternal?
some sweet old granny is in torment and pain for eternity because she picked the wrong brand of christianity?

[Anonymous No.13349515]

>>13349487
>God is in everything
No, everything is in God, in that he surrounds and encompasses every little thing.
>even you. He made you, deny it or not
Are you drunk ? Did you think you saw something in my text that indicated I don't believe in the Creator ?
>a devil will never promote religion
Ahahah and then he'll go on to say that that other angel was a devil because he said things contrary to his religion, while not seeing the obvious irony...
>And, it does
What does ?
>and yes, I am prideful
I know that, you wouldn't worship a human otherwise.

[Anonymous No.13349523]

kek, is this a baby's first realization that all religions are bullshit?

[Anonymous No.13349555]

>>13349495
Yep, even Islam is more merciful.

19:68-70
So by your Lord, We will surely gather them and the devils; then We will bring them to be present around Hell upon their knees.
Then We will surely extract from every sect those of them who were worst against the Most Merciful in insolence.
Then, surely it is We who are most knowing of those most worthy of burning therein.

11:106-107
Now as for those who [by their deeds] will have brought wretchedness upon them-selves, [they shall live] in the fire, where they will have [nothing but] moans and sobs [to relieve their pain],
therein to abide as long as the heavens and the earth endure-unless thy Sustainer wills it otherwise: for, verily, thy Sustainer is a sovereign doer of whatever He wills.

[Anonymous No.13349616]

>>13349555
christian god seems like a real autistic dick

[Anonymous No.13349759]

>>13349284
>God is not a static thing. God is a dynamic being capable of contemplation, creation and historical manifestation. He is both beyond and throughout time.
This is ridiculous, is god changing or unchanging? Eternal or not eternal? Btw The "beyond and throughout time" was already conceived of in concepts such as Sriman Narayana centuries before an uppity jewish carpenter went around Palestine doing party tricks and annoying the other jews until they called the cops on him.

>God has a perfect knowledge of creation, and also a perfect self-knowledge. For God to know God perfectly manifests as a "second" God which we call the Logos/Word. The relationship between God the Father and God the Word is characterized by knowledge and love, and forms a "third" God which we call the Spirit.
Total nonsense. The only consistent theme of trinitarianism is that any explanation of it that even somewhat approaches making sense gets labelled a heresy. If it can be understood in any logical way, it must be suppressed because people could realize it's wrong.

>But we may know things about God which he has revealed to us because he desires for humans to seek him.
Like how Krishna revealed the ancient science of yoga to Arjuna? Oh but THAT particularly revelation story is just a fairy tale, right?

>This revelation of God to humankind is most perfectly captured in the person of Jesus Christ, who existed in history as a real flesh-and-blood man, and who has existed eternally as the Word.
And of course the next line of bullshit from the galileans: god only ever revealed himself to one (1) group of people in one (1) point in time and every other experience with the divine anywhere or anywhen on earth was not really god, but satan or something, and even if it was divine and they were a """""""virtuous pagan"""""""", it doesn't really count for anything and only jesus matters, right? All the knowledge in the world could be lost but as long as we have a book of jewish fairy tales god will still be with us on earth. Right?

[Anonymous No.13349779]

>>13349284
>For God to know God perfectly manifests as a "second" God
>The relationship between God the Father and God the Word is characterized by knowledge and love, and forms a "third" God
And then they wonder why muslims and jews call them polytheists.

"And [yet], among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah . But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah ."

[Anonymous No.13350597]

>>13349378
>>13349487

Can you please describe / greentext your angel encounter?

[Anonymous No.13350709]

>>13349759
You seem very hostile to me for some reason, intending to deny everything I have written here about Christianity. I said nothing about Vedanta or Hinduism.

I studied a little about Hinduism and Buddhism in college, maybe 2000 pages or so of reading. I thought Indian philosophy was very interesting and every bit as immense and variegated as western philosophy. I have quite a bit of respect for it.

Ultimately I came to realize that I will never be able to practice a religion in a triumphalist sense-- I will never be able to say "I am a Christian and not a Zoroastrian/Jew/Buddhist/whatever because x,y,z."

My mind is far too finite to exhaustively categorize and investigate all of that.

I have found myself drawn to Christ. Jesus is Lord, of me and of you. Perhaps others call him by another name, I don't know.

I am worried about how to follow my Lord, and I have learned a little trying to do that. Sometimes faith is such an immense joy that it must be shared. Evangelization (How Christians approach non-Christians) is not a matter of me saying "you are wrong and I am right." It is attempting to share a great joy with someone else out of love.

Death is conquered, God loves us more than we can grasp, we are forgiven no matter who we are, we are called to a foretaste of Heaven on Earth in living among each other as citizens of the Kingdom, and every pain in this world will be like a passing thought compared to the eternal glory of Heaven. We can have faith, hope and love, right now. The Kingdom of God is within you.

[Anonymous No.13350853]

>>13349428
This book explains almost all of the stuff you'd need to understand those works, if you still feel like you are not understanding what's being talked about, take a break and read this and then come back to the text and it'll make sense.

https://archive.org/stream/reneguenon/1925%20-%20Man%20and%20His%20Becoming%20according%20to%20the%20Ved%C3%A2nta#mode/2up

[Anonymous No.13350972]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQjBQJqi0Ak

[Anonymous No.13351016]

>>13349252
changes in how you process phenomena especially re: objects of desire/aversion, and how you relate to other living beings. This isn't really a complicated or weird idea, it's the intuitive sub-rational understandings, the qualitative valences of your experience. You can formulate many of them in words, but that doesn't really make them conceptual, the real content of the insight is immediate and pre-verbal.

[Anonymous No.13351350]

>>13346143
is there a non-western guide book for meditation

[Anonymous No.13351464]

>>13351350
Manual of Insight by Mahasi Sayadaw
that's good for insight meditation, but you'll have to find other books for old school breath concentration meditation. Maybe the Visuddhimagga although idk how useful it would be to a layman

[Anonymous No.13351991]

>>13349495
Isn't hell in christianity something like sinners torturing themselves by distancing themselves from god out of their own decision?

[Anonymous No.13352720]

>>13350709
Typical christian bullshit: sappy, emotional supplication and pilpul. Take your feel-good hippie bullshit and throw it in the trash, along with yourself.

[Anonymous No.13352726]

>>13351991
They'll make up whatever they want it to be at the time of asking, but generally yes. And god so loved the world that he'll send his conscious creations to be tortured forever because they didn't worship a dead jew. Very forgiving.

[Anonymous No.13352783]

When will people learn that philosophy is the only acceptable way of exploring methaphysical questions? Read the preface to Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy.

[Anonymous No.13352793]

>>13344364

You remind me of a friend of mine. I am deeply a pessimist, completely lost in my depression, and he was very similar to me before going on a similar path to yours.
We have one fundamental thing we have always disagreed on, despite having similar opinions in most topics.
I have always maintained, and still do, that people only reach this sort of balance, irregardless of meditation and ideologies, if their lives are good enough to allow it.

I don't doubt the proper mindset, the proper "mind-over matter", be it buddhism, christianity, 10 steps of alcoholics-anonymous or whatever can help a person feel more at peace or in unity with existence, but I fundamentally believe all of this is only achieved in the first place if the person is given room to breathe from life.
There is a lot of evidence of conditioning behavior in mammals if you just put them through random suffering. Learned helplessness, Pavlovian condition and so on.

I have long wanted to go on a journey such as yours, and I've stumbled onto things here and there, but I can't shake the feeling of it being overwhelmingly pointless. To me all of this, all of it. All of philosophy, all of religion, everything, just feels like steps we take to cope better while life lets us. Nature always gets the final say. People always have a point at which they break.Some are just lucky to never get there.

I still deeply appreciate you sharing your journey and I hope one day it helps other people. Perhaps me as well.

[Anonymous No.13352798]

>>13352783
>Philosophy, as I shall understand the word, is something intermediate between theology and science. Like theology, it consists of speculations on matters as to which definite knowledge has, so far, been unascertainable; but like science, it appeals to human reason rather than to authority, whether that of tradition or that of revelation. All definite knowledge-so I should contend-belongs to science; all dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology. But between theology and science there is a No Man’s Land, exposed to attack from both sides; this No Man’s Land is philosophy. Almost all the questions of most interest to speculative minds are such as science cannot answer, and the confident answers of theologians no longer seem so convincing as they did in former centuries. Is the world divided into mind and matter, and, if so, what is mind and what is matter? Is mind subject to matter, or is it possessed of independent powers? Has the universe any unity or purpose? Is it evolving towards some goal? Are there really laws of nature, or do we believe in them only because of our innate love of order? Is man what he seems to the astronomer, a tiny lump of impure carbon and water impotently crawling on a small and unimportant planet? Or is he what he appears to Hamlet? Is he perhaps both at once? Is there a way of living that is noble and another that is base, or are all ways of living merely futile? If there is a way of living that is noble, in what does it consist, and how shall we achieve it? Must the good be eternal in order to deserve to be valued, or is it worth seeking even if the universe is inexorably moving towards death? Is there such a thing as wisdom, or is what seems such merely the ultimate refinement of folly? To such questions no answer can be found in the laboratory. Theologies have professed to give answers, all too definite; but their very definiteness causes modern minds to view them with suspicion. The studying of these questions, if not the answering of them, is the business of philosophy.

[Anonymous No.13352809]

>>13352793
What is the rock analogous to?

[Anonymous No.13352821]

>>13352809

Things outside your control that cause you enough suffering to disrupt your daily life.
For me, it's chronic pain that sometimes comes for months and no doctor can explain, and sometimes it just leaves.
For other people it might be other things.

[Anonymous No.13352837]

>>13352821
The parable seems to suggest that happiness only comes with favorable circumstance (the pained rock being removed) when I can personally attest that happiness is found in spite of pain, not without it.

[Anonymous No.13352863]

>>13352837
I understand your position.
I do agree to some degree, but I think there is a limit any given human can withstand before breaking.
Maybe the person in the little story finds happiness even if the rock never falls off of their head, through meditation or something else they didn't try.
Maybe a larger rock falls on their head next and their previous coping methods prove inefficient.
I feel like that's the fundamental problem I have. Believing that there is a limit after which the coping is just not enough, so I shouldn't even begin attempting to cope.

I often wonder why the tibetan monks self immolated on that occasion. They could clearly withstand the physical pain of the fire without flailing around, which I wouldn't be able to do, but at the same time something was bothering them enough that they had to kill themselves over it. We might look back on it with ad-hoc explanations about martyrdom or the good of the many but it just really feels like those monks reached the limit at which their coping methods failed to counter the suffering. Much like in any suicide.

[Anonymous No.13352894]

>>13352863
>Maybe a larger rock falls on their head next and their previous coping methods prove inefficient.
Quite right, the machinery of life is indifferent to us, and many ARE driven to suicide. Likewise indifferent to their suicide, life moves on.
But man is capable of enduring anything he can rationalize. He who finds a 'why' will find a 'how'.
That is why self-awareness is our greatest gift. When we become conscious of this we become infinitely more capable.

[Anonymous No.13353248]

How are Westerners meant to connect or act on the philosophy and theology that flows from the Upanishads and the like?

Also are there any good works in English from this Hindu perspective that critique Christianity and Buddhism?

[Anonymous No.13353307]

>>13352793
>I can't shake the feeling of it being overwhelmingly pointless. To me all of this, all of it. All of philosophy, all of religion, everything, just feels like steps we take to cope better while life lets us. Nature always gets the final say.
That's samsara, dukkha and impermanence for ya mate. Sounds like samvega as well.
You're describing actually the sort of thing these religions acknowledge and deal with

[Anonymous No.13353368]

>>13344364
>>13345125
>>13345742
>>13349252
>>13351016

[Anonymous No.13354253]

>>13353307
all buddhism is is a form of pseudo-psychology. They stick non-scientific names on universal human emotions and give some made up advice about how they think you should deal with them. Fuck that, learn to deal with your emotions by yourself. And if you can't, go get professional help from a psychiatrist/psychotherapist

[Anonymous No.13354330]

>>13354253
keep in mind, psychologists won't be able to magically solve your life either, but it's a heck of a lot better than fumbling around in the dark by yourself attaching yourself to vague concepts. They can provide medication if necessary, but most importantly, they can act as a way to vent. On here it might feel like you're sending messages into the void, like you're going around in circles. These people can give direct feedback after they get more insight into your precise situation.

[Anonymous No.13354761]

>>13354253
>>13354330
>valid existential anxiety and confusion?
>just take meds and feel good bro

[Anonymous No.13354887]

>>13354761
what's the alternative?
>just breathe and feel good bro
or what?
yeah, that'll end up in self medicating with escapism and substance abuse real fast.

[Anonymous No.13354977]

>>13354887
that would be the purpose of secular meditation a la headspace
Dharmic religions directly deal with existential issues, being and not-being, accepting impermanence and death, letting go of false perceptions that cause you unnecessary suffering by seeing through them...etc

[Anonymous No.13356513]

Bump for
>>13353248

[Anonymous No.13356712]

>>13345032
The problem with Christianity is the fact that it expects others to take it seriously and so stringently. As a spiritualist without religion, I have no trouble looking into all the existing traditions and evaluating them from my own personal perspective, judging their pros and cons from my limited mind. I can easily read into Jesus's words and actions and observe what I admire of the man, and what I may have criticisms of. I can do the same with Buddha, and anything else. But unfortunately, Christianity does not tolerate my approach - you must believe Christ is not only a real figure (instead of a scriptural character), but the literal son of God. I must believe in Genesis, the Fall, the Resurrection and so much else, just to appreciate Christianity. Christianity shoots itself in the foot by expecting such - Western culture would be far less "Godless" and materialistic and degenerated if Christianity relaxed its expectations and reformed its theology in some manner. Ultimately, the belief I hold is something akin to Brahman/the One, but I spend my days principally attempting to understand the exact nature of our reality, and trying to integrate spiritual realities to naturalistic ones. The Provlem of Evil, for example, specifically regarding animal predation in the natural world (the fact animals must survive off one another, in an endless arena of brutality), alongside the priority of Love and Beauty and all the other transcendentals which people on DMT and who have had NDE's have all reported as being integral to reality's fabric, can somehow coexist. How can the Divine be Love if nature is so cruel, and the Divine made all of those creatures and their behaviors? This is an example of the kinds of questions that someone like myself, who doesn't have a personal God to believe in, but is spiritual, spends their time reflecting on. How reincarnation would work is another, and so is how our astral bodies exist alongside our biological ones.

Our culture can be saved from materialism and the nihilism born from it if we can simply achieve a synthesis of the spiritual with the natural, which has already begun in the form of successful parapsychological research which has shown items line Remote Viewing to be realities.

[Anonymous No.13356745]

>>13346166
Atman = Brahman, to what extent I understand it, is genuinely so profound to me. The macrocosmic principle is the same as the microcosmic one. The picture of all the galaxies resembling a neural network is one I really hope is not merely a case of human projection, but that it's truly the case our universe is a giant, potentially infinite Mind, belonging to a Supreme Being to whom we are the equivalent of cells, like those of our own bodies.

[Anonymous No.13356772]

>>13347403
I hope your Mother is doing better now. May she know peace and happiness for the rest of her days.

[Anonymous No.13356777]

>>13344364
Nice blog post, and dissolving your Ego into the world is only one way to cope with reality. Sorry it took you so much effort to realize this. Oh, you still don't know this? That's a shame.

[Anonymous No.13356780]

>>13346166
how do I get into Schopenhauer? I'm not a brainlet but I am uneducated in philosophy

[Anonymous No.13356815]

>>13346166
It took you a masters to realize you're just an infant emotionally? Nice

[Anonymous No.13356817]

>>13349296
My belief, and you can look into a figure named Lloyd Pye if you have the interest in hear my source speak for himself, is that there were a group of higher-dimensional, extraterrestrial humanoid beings on our Earth at some time in the past, whom the Sumerians called the Annunaki and the Canaanites named the Elohim. These were a group of beings that combined their genetics with that of the earlier apes here on Earth, thereby creating modern humanity. And the account in Genesis of "making them in OUR image, and OUR likeness" is a record of this history.

Look up Lloyd Pye if you desire more information. Not trying to shake your faith, just presenting you alternative interpretations of your scriptures.

[Anonymous No.13356821]

>>13349296
Oh, and those beings are essentially Divine in nature, being much closer to that essence than any animals here are, hence why our own species finds itself at a strange crossroads, one foot trapped in the animal world and the other making steps towards Transcendence.

[Anonymous No.13356947]

>>13348761
Taking refuge in the three jewels
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refuge_(Buddhism)

[Anonymous No.13357063]

>>13349373
>A problem in our time is that many people who self identify as Christian do not seem to live very differently from non-Christians. Faith is perhaps measured in the extent to which Christianity changes how one goes about life. I can certainly see why that is a frightening notion.
Yes this is basic sociology/biology.
All the silly rituals, stupid doctrine and denial and idiotically martyring yourself are "honest signals" that you are really committed to the group and will be less likely to work against it.
Commmunes with more silly rituals do BETTER not worse than the ones with less restrictions.
Secularization makes these "honest signals" not visible anymore which leads to deterioration do confidence in the group.
But this has nothing to do with Christianity in particular or the the truth of it (not for or against it).

[Anonymous No.13357100]

>>13349779
That is not really necessarily a denial of the Trinity but a denial of Christ being coequal to the Father.
There is a lot of distance between Christ being just a human prophet and being coequal and coeternal God.
I feel the Quran more reads like Arianism than anything else.

[Anonymous No.13357329]

>>13349146
Hinduism

[Anonymous No.13357348]

>>13354253
No, psychology is a sort of pseudo-Buddhism...

[Anonymous No.13357379]

>>13349317

[Anonymous No.13357473]

>>13353368
Low-effort text-on-object meme posters should be gassed.

[Anonymous No.13358275]

>>13346223
How do I learn to be like what you described?

[Anonymous No.13358283]

>>13346447
Everything comes into being through a process inside the human brain. It is completely arbitrary what we choose to believe is "real" and what we choose to believe is "imposed". You say that the moral duality is false. You haven't gone far enough. All dualities are false.

[Anonymous No.13358292]

>>13347843
That really doesn't matter. The Christ is the most powerful spiritual symbol there is, there's a reason why it is probably the most meaningful story to humanity to our knowledge.

[Anonymous No.13358298]

>>13346223
>>A real meditation expert can actually induce others into exalted states.
no

[Anonymous No.13358683]

>>13357329
Yup, literally Rama and Krishna are exactly that theme.

[Anonymous No.13358779]

>>13358292
>The Christ is the most powerful spiritual symbol there is
ok retard

[Anonymous No.13358787]

>>13358779
amazing input as always

[Anonymous No.13358799]

>>13358787
Oh sorry, next time I'll accuse you of heresy and kill you because you don't interpret the jewish fairy tales in exactly the same way I do.

[Anonymous No.13358802]

>>13358799
keep on putting out that real thought provoking content bud