|
solarshroomster
Wonderer



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
|
Why does Reality Exist? 2
#28514047 - 10/22/23 11:35 AM (3 months, 4 days ago) |
|
|
Hey, I've been working on a book that chronicles my experiences and revelations on psychedelics, as well as spiritual awakening and tips for people going through spiritual awakening. I'm excited to share it with you all in the coming weeks. It should be released in mid-November.
I'll give a little teaser in advance, but I hope it resonates with others and encourages others to share their visions and revelations on this miraculous thing we call "life", "Reality", and "existence".
Before I release the teaser, I wanted to ask others for their thoughts:
Why do you think Reality exists? Can we know? What happens to us when we die?

Book: Why does Reality Exist?
-------------------- Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."
Edited by solarshroomster (10/28/23 11:32 AM)
|
AspectOfTheCreator
Mastering the Art of Success



Registered: 12/07/22
Posts: 1,263
Last seen: 4 hours, 54 minutes
|
|
The "creator" is bored and alone. And so it creates reality to put itself into. So it can forget its bored and alone.
Its all just a game for an infinitely intelligent energy. When we die we wake up and remember this fact. We're all like drops of water in an ocean of eternal energy we call "god".
...or maybe I was just tripping. Guess ill find out when the day comes.
Edited by AspectOfTheCreator (10/22/23 12:01 PM)
|
Buster_Brown
L'une


Registered: 09/17/11
Posts: 11,309
Last seen: 1 day, 16 hours
|
|
5 thousand years ago we floated thru space and realized that inhabiting animal forms allows for a deeper experience so we got rid of the dinosaurs and began to revel in the amusement of being human.
|
connectedcosmos
Neti Neti



Registered: 02/07/15
Posts: 7,426
Loc: The Pathless Path
|
|
Perhaps think of the state of deep sleep
Experience of nothing - now imagine that for eternity , variety is the spice of life
So we have existence why so? Because there would be nothing like the state of deep sleep
Existence is a dream within a dream
A flow in and of itself with no specific rhyme or reason indulging in a beautiful purposelessness
And now I will take another toke...  
--------------------
 54. The true nature of things is to be known personally , through the eyes of clear illumination and not through a sage : what the moon exactly is , is to be known with one's own eyes ; can another make him know it?
|
solarshroomster
Wonderer



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
|
|
A lot of physicists say that "everything is explained by some universal laws of physics". But "where" did the universal "laws of physics" come from? How and why did they come to exist?
A lot of theologians says that "everything is explained by some universal Supreme being". But "where" did that universal "Supreme being" come from? How and why did it come to exist?
And then, if we had explanations to either or both of those two questions, how/why did that principal come to exist?
It is my view that psychedelics provide another window into Reality, a way to appreciate the universe "come alive". They open the mind to answering questions in newfound ways that couldn't have been appreciated before. Only through perception of the "ineffable" can we get access to some of the questions we seek.
In other words, if you want the direct answer to my book, Why does Reality Exist?, you can just take a bunch of shrooms and find out for yourself!

In all seriousness, my own five second take is that I think Reality is like a collection of living stories, told by an infinite and eternal Story teller. Mind is a creation of those stories being told, and matter is simply the representative objects of mind that can be confirmed by two or more "points of existence" (or by only one point in the case of non-veridical dreams and visions). That still doesn't explain though where that Story teller came from, which is the real mystery... it just explains how/why we are God's own eyes onto the world, experiencing itself through different perspectives. Also explains away death, which is another nice little bonus
-------------------- Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."
|
Nillion
Nobody

Registered: 04/14/22
Posts: 1,000
Loc: Terra Firma
|
|
Why do you think Reality exists? I am not sure I do think it exists, but neither do I believe it doesn't.
Can we know? Can we know why? I suspect not. We might be able to learn more about how, but the why is kinda, well, silly to me at least.
What happens to us when we die? If I put this another way, what happens to my self, when I die, I can say I expect that nothing happens, so far as I can tell, self is a construct.
|
Nillion
Nobody

Registered: 04/14/22
Posts: 1,000
Loc: Terra Firma
|
|
Quote:
solarshroomster said: A lot of physicists say that "everything is explained by some universal laws of physics". But "where" did the universal "laws of physics" come from? How and why did they come to exist?
A lot of theologians says that "everything is explained by some universal Supreme being". But "where" did that universal "Supreme being" come from? How and why did it come to exist?
And then, if we had explanations to either or both of those two questions, how/why did that principal come to exist?
Aren't those issues of origin artifacts arising from the perception of time in a linear fashion, when in fact time is a relative property and cannot be linear in origination.
All linear origin arguments lead to ontological paradoxes, don't they? What if there literally is no origin, that rather things are originating, but not in a linear temporal fashion? But then this introduces Relativity to a question of spirituality and many might find that problematic.
Good questions. I hope you get some answers.
|
solarshroomster
Wonderer



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
|
Re: Why does Reality Exist? [Re: Nillion] 1
#28514489 - 10/22/23 05:30 PM (3 months, 4 days ago) |
|
|
Alright, drum roll... here is the teaser to my book: Why Does Reality Exist?
It took several doses of mystical medicine (cannabis, shrooms, and ketamine) to get "there". But "here" we are now in existence "experiencing" Reality "come alive". Love & light..!!
-------------------- Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."
Edited by solarshroomster (10/22/23 06:40 PM)
|
Nillion
Nobody

Registered: 04/14/22
Posts: 1,000
Loc: Terra Firma
|
|
Quote:
the material world (including this book) emanates from the genuine source, as coded, allegorical language for the actual message.
So your position is that the properties of matter arise as a manifestation of a code from a source?
Am I correct in this?
Edited by Nillion (10/22/23 05:59 PM)
|
solarshroomster
Wonderer



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
|
Re: Why does Reality Exist? [Re: Nillion]
#28514549 - 10/22/23 06:30 PM (3 months, 4 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Nillion said:
Quote:
the material world (including this book) emanates from the genuine source, as coded, allegorical language for the actual message.
So your position is that the properties of matter arise as a manifestation of a code from a source?
Am I correct in this?
Somewhat. I'd say its emanating from a higher source, yes, but it's also equivalent to the source itself at the same time. The Author breathes through his own books and comes alive through his own books.
It's much like a dream. When you dream, you see objects in front of you. Those are productions of the mind. The same happens in the waking state, we just have other beings here who corroborate the objects that we see, so we can say we live in one world together. The fact that we are able to see the same Reality indicates that our consciousness and material world blend together as one. So, Creator is connected with its creation, and we are able to get access to the Creator, through reading the "code", as unraveled in transcendent experiences by psychedelics, NDEs, religious ecstasy, UFO experiences, and so forth. (In my opinion... could be wrong). This is why the experience is "ineffable" to us when we "return" and only can be understood through "intuition" in the trance state.
Life can be likened to an allegory that has "come alive". One of the defining features of pure allegory, according to Angus Fletcher in Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode, is that its formal, or literal, surface level does not explicitly demand to be interpreted for hidden meanings, for it often makes 'good enough' sense by itself. "But somehow this literal surface suggests a peculiar doubleness of intention, and while it can, as it were, get along without interpretation, it becomes much richer and more interesting if given interpretation".
Life is much the same way. We are all acting out a pattern that can be seen "from above" as the pattern of all patterns. To us, from the linear perspective, we build certain narratives in our mind; but, those narratives can be re-created in other tales... new stories drafted... to connect us to a "higher reality". The question is, can we ever step outside the book to see the producer behind the code? Like, my original post, the question is still begged: where do the laws of physics come from? Where does the Supreme Being come from?
Caution though: Bear in mind, all of these thoughts are products of a tripping mind; I am almost certainly wrong, at least to some degree, with my perception of it. I'm simply entertaining ideas more than insisting upon one interpretation. The major point though is this: As I try to articulate throughout the book, there is no uninteresting answer to the question "Why does Reality Exist?" The decision tree only has very interesting answers... life is truly incredible, so no need to cling to my interpretations or anyone else's.
What do you think?
-------------------- Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."
|
Nillion
Nobody

Registered: 04/14/22
Posts: 1,000
Loc: Terra Firma
|
|
Interesting.
It is certainly something to ponder. Thank you for the writing and ideas!
Edited to answer the last question of your post. What do I think? I'm not sure yet, I think I need to think some more.
Edited by Nillion (10/22/23 06:55 PM)
|
solarshroomster
Wonderer



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
|
Re: Why does Reality Exist? [Re: Nillion]
#28514578 - 10/22/23 07:02 PM (3 months, 4 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Nillion said: Aren't those issues of origin artifacts arising from the perception of time in a linear fashion, when in fact time is a relative property and cannot be linear in origination.
All linear origin arguments lead to ontological paradoxes, don't they? What if there literally is no origin, that rather things are originating, but not in a linear temporal fashion? But then this introduces Relativity to a question of spirituality and many might find that problematic. .
I like how you urge us to consider things from a standpoint that appreciates how we think about time & space, which I think is key to approaching "Why does Reality Exist"?
For instance, we can't say "what happened before the Big Bang?", because there was no "before" the Big Bang. Rather, the Big Bang was the very expansion of spacetime itself. This is why everything is necessarily interconnected: there is no "out there". "In here" is equivalent to "out there". Hence, the theory of relativity... there is no objective way to say something is to the "left" or "right" of something, or "before" or "after". Time and space are relative. Matter and mind are ultimately thus one.
I also like when you say that "Self is a construct". Yep, I feel similarly that it's a hallucination. I think we live in the hallucination of our minds, and the "Self as construct" is one of these "creations" of the mind.
Fascinating stuff.
I like science, but I don't think it captures all that we can know. In particular, I don't think the buck stops at the Theory of Relativity, or maybe some theory on gravity, or M-theory to suit our epistemological wishes. If all of the laws of physics are logical principals and can exist outside time & space to create spacetime in the Big Bang (as I believe they do), where did logic itself come from?
Without an explanation to that, no explanation is provided to "Why Does Reality Exist?"
-------------------- Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."
Edited by solarshroomster (10/22/23 07:06 PM)
|
Asante
Mage


Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,792
|
|
Reality is the dream of The One
-------------------- Omnicyclion.org higher knowledge starts here
|
Nillion
Nobody

Registered: 04/14/22
Posts: 1,000
Loc: Terra Firma
|
|
I like the idea of thinking of time as a facet of timespace in a relative way, as in the Big Bang is in our relative past, but all energy in the universe exists as non-relative boson state as the singularity and unity of all energy, which composes the single entity at the core of the theory of the bang so to speak. It is the point at which all matter and energy are one and not differentiated into timespace.
That point of singularity is not in our relative past, because it is the non-linear aspect of the energy that constitutes timespace after it experiences heat expansion. However once that differentiation of energy occurs, aka the bang, then timespace becomes relative and our position is downstream so to speak, from the bang, but not the singularity!
I think of it all in terms of thermodynamics and heat and quarks, it is rather boring I think, compared to the idea that the origin of reality is akin to the dream of a sleeping God, to borrow and adapt some of your symbolism. Certainly my own, theoretical, explanation of how the universe exists is not profound, but to me it is coherent. Still, that is neither here nor there.
I wonder, sometimes, if we project aspects of personality into explanation, because as people, we relate to the material better if we think of the universe in terms of our interaction with it. Like, the universe feels like it makes more sense if it is akin to a pet rock, but infinitely more expansive and powerful. Either way the result is that the rock, er, universe, matters to us and we to it, in this type of exercise. Perhaps we find the anthropomorphization of the universe psychologically necessary? After all, if we see the universe in ourselves, is it not natural to see ourselves in the universe? I think psychedelics lend themselves to this and maybe even predispose us towards it. If we see ourselves as loving the universe doesn't it makes sense that we want to see the universe as loving us? Nobody likes a one sided relationship, right?
Do we search for truth, meaning or justification?
Are they different words for the same thing to some of us and yet incompatible concepts for others?
I confess, even the concept of the question why? seems strange to me. I kinda don't care that much to ask why this or why that, but have often found great benefit in exploring the idea of how. The question of how a plant grows is of special interest to me as a gardener, but why a plant grows doesn't interest me much at all.
Maybe I am being naive and am just misunderstanding what the question why means?
It almost seems like asking, what is the motive of the universe for existing? Instead I find myself more comfortable with pondering the question of how the universe exists. It occurs to me that I am unlikely to arrive at either answer though, and even if I did, I might not even be able to recognize it. They say that searching for truth is the easy part, but accepting it is difficult. Perhaps that is also true for recognizing it? I don't know... maybe?
Perhaps it is as you say, I actually have no idea. I know what I find to be tenable at present, but that could easily change tomorrow. Certainly I can appreciate, love and participate in the endeavor of pondering the universe through a psychedelic filter.
In the end, perhaps what I think doesn't really matter, nothing about the universe has changed in my life, despite my having had many different opinions about the universe along the way... still it is fun to share thoughts and ideas with other people. Maybe that is enough for me to enjoy reality, even if I can't fully understand it?
I sure hope so!
|
solarshroomster
Wonderer



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
|
Re: Why does Reality Exist? [Re: Nillion]
#28514676 - 10/22/23 08:21 PM (3 months, 4 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Nillion said: I wonder, sometimes, if we project aspects of personality into explanation, because as people, we relate to the material better if we think of the universe in terms of our interaction with it. Like, the universe feels like it makes more sense if it is akin to a pet rock, but infinitely more expansive and powerful. Either way the result is that the rock, er, universe, matters to us and we to it, in this type of exercise. Perhaps we find the anthropomorphization of the universe psychologically necessary? ...
I confess, even the concept of the question why? seems strange to me. I kinda don't care that much to ask why this or why that, but have often found great benefit in exploring the idea of how. The question of how a plant grows is of special interest to me as a gardener, but why a plant grows doesn't interest me much at all.
Maybe I am being naive and am just misunderstanding what the question why means?
It almost seems like asking, what is the motive of the universe for existing? Instead I find myself more comfortable with pondering the question of how the universe exists. It occurs to me that I am unlikely to arrive at either answer though, and even if I did, I might not even be able to recognize it. They say that searching for truth is the easy part, but accepting it is difficult. Perhaps that is also true for recognizing it? I don't know... maybe?
Perhaps it is as you say, I actually have no idea. I know what I find to be tenable at present, but that could easily change tomorrow. Certainly I can appreciate, love and participate in the endeavor of pondering the universe through a psychedelic filter.
In the end, perhaps what I think doesn't really matter, nothing about the universe has changed in my life, despite my having had many different opinions about the universe along the way... still it is fun to share thoughts and ideas with other people. Maybe that is enough for me to enjoy reality, even if I can't fully understand it?
I sure hope so!
I think the anthropomorphizing is really just symbolic dressing, vocabulary used to try to articulate the "ineffable". When I say that I think, as Asante summed up, that "Reality is the dream of The One", it doesn't mean its a human-like dreamer in the sky at all. It means Reality is equivalent to a mental-material world of unity that comes to know itself through conscious agents, or "points of experience" who believe themselves to be separate: me, you, I, anyone that has ever existed.
I also think it's easy to confuse "why" questions with a question seeking "purpose". Why questions are about ultimate explanation, not something as silly as "the universe exists, because we need to feel good about it". In my view, this is the realm of philosophy & mysticism, because we get answers that are unfalsifiable. That doesn't make it, as you seem to point out, good for science and practical answers. But just because they are unfalsifiable and not practical, doesn't mean that they don't impart meaning to them or that the answers don't exist in some "real sense".
The good news though is that universe / Reality existing is something magically good we can all marvel in wonder at... regardless of what persuasion we are, skeptic or mystic. It truly is a great gift to be alive!
-------------------- Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."
|
solarshroomster
Wonderer



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
|
Re: Why does Reality Exist? [Re: Asante]
#28514677 - 10/22/23 08:23 PM (3 months, 4 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Asante said: Reality is the dream of The One 
How awe-inspiring the dream is! To actually exist and be "alive"!
-------------------- Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."
|
Nillion
Nobody

Registered: 04/14/22
Posts: 1,000
Loc: Terra Firma
|
|
Quote:
Why questions are about ultimate explanation
I wonder if that is a truth I am unable to recognize or perhaps unwilling to accept?
Doesn't it require a foundational belief that the universe has an ultimate purpose? Isn't that idea of purpose invariably interpreted as relating specifically to our species by our species? Might we even find individuals who extend this to believe that the purpose of the universe relates to them specifically? Are we not always trying to find new ways to putting ourselves at the center of the universe and the meaning of existence? Why is the idea of an ultimate explanation something we seek? If you found it, like right now, once and for all, no question about it, would you then cease to wonder?
Is there really a final why which cannot have another why added to it in an infinite progression? Or having found an ultimate explanation of why, can we not then seek the ultimate explanation for it? Where does it all end?
Is it our fate to be born and wonder: Why was I born? To live and wonder: Why am I alive? To face death and wonder: Why am I must I die?
Is there truly any answer that will satisfy us? Ti estin aletheia?
Of what use is truth?
|
connectedcosmos
Neti Neti



Registered: 02/07/15
Posts: 7,426
Loc: The Pathless Path
|
Re: Why does Reality Exist? [Re: Nillion] 1
#28514956 - 10/23/23 03:50 AM (3 months, 3 days ago) |
|
|
It is rather interesting
If one asks why does water freeze?
And the answer has something to do with temperature, molecular processes etc
That simply does not ever answer, why does water freeze , that answers how water freezes
So why is a very tricky question when asking the extremely big questions
Sometimes I feel like some of those questions are ones only you yourself can answer
Reminds me of Søren; Quote:
life is not a puzzle to be solved but a reality to be experienced
--------------------
 54. The true nature of things is to be known personally , through the eyes of clear illumination and not through a sage : what the moon exactly is , is to be known with one's own eyes ; can another make him know it?
|
lostintimenspc
Stranger
Registered: 03/13/20
Posts: 222
Last seen: 6 days, 23 hours
|
|
I find it highly unlikely the stars and planets are orbiting each other for no reason.
No not gravity...
Something more like as a representation of polarity, or something like this. It has to mean something.
-------------------- LSD, mushrooms and DMT are different structural levels within the same magically simulated mystery sometimes blandly called 'life' Your life, your call.
|
solarshroomster
Wonderer



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 506
Last seen: 3 days, 17 hours
|
|
Quote:
connectedcosmos said: It is rather interesting
If one asks why does water freeze?
And the answer has something to do with temperature, molecular processes etc
That simply does not ever answer, why does water freeze , that answers how water freezes
So why is a very tricky question when asking the extremely big questions
Sometimes I feel like some of those questions are ones only you yourself can answer
Reminds me of Søren; Quote:
life is not a puzzle to be solved but a reality to be experienced
Couldn't agree more. I've always been very unsatisfied with answers that kick the can down the road but act as if they've fully solved the question. There is always another "why" question tucked behind what we think is the last turtle (as they say, "it's turtles all the way down").
I think there's another way to word "why" questions into a how questions: "how is it these set of circumstances instead of some other set of circumstances".
So, "how is it the circumstance that Reality exists as opposed to not exist"? "How is it the circumstance that the laws of physics exist to create the universe as opposed to not exist?" "How is it the circumstance that the Supreme Being exists to create the universe as opposed to not exist?"
It comes down to selection: how is it this selection as opposed to some other selection? And, we know, it was a selection, because we can imagine the other selection being possible (Or is it?) This is where one can get into the multiverse or many-worlds theories, where all worldlines that are possible exist in some sense in Reality, but it still then begs the question... where did this multiverse come from?
My hunch is that "why" questions can't work with the scientific method, but it's better "answered" for something known as "intuition". Some things we can't know for sure empirically, but, as you put it, "some of those questions are ones only you yourself can answer".
-------------------- Chopin in Eternal Sonata: "I believe that I am somehow being tested. That I am on this journey to come to some realization. And in order to do so, I think I’m supposed to live my life to the fullest, even if it is in this muddled world of dream and reality."
|
|