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In(di)go
People of the sun.
Registered: 10/29/00
Posts: 8,157
Loc: Cologne, Germany
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Re: Merely a function of our chemical make up. [Re: Albino_Jesus]
#902570 - 09/23/02 07:15 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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hmmm... a non-believer calling out for god... i like that
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thePatient
Criminal Bodhisattva
Registered: 07/07/02
Posts: 3,289
Loc: Indiana
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Re: Merely a function of our chemical make up. [Re: In(di)go]
#902583 - 09/23/02 07:21 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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LOL!
-------------------- T h e r e a r e n o o r d i n a r y m o m e n t s.
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MarkostheGnostic
Elder
Registered: 12/09/99
Posts: 14,279
Loc: South Florida
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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Re: Merely a function of our chemical make up. [Re: chemkid]
#902886 - 09/23/02 09:13 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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This kind of 'nothing-but-ery' reductionism went out in the 19th century. Where have YOU been? Chemicals are "merely" one dimension of a multidimensional phenomenon called Consciousness, or alternatively, Awareness; and formerly referred to in the main as 'Spirit' (in case you don't grasp the religious implications of Conscious Awareness). There is this Great Chain of Being from subatomic to Consciousness, and every level if complexity in between.
Had you ever known an OOBE, a convincing Out-of-the-Body-Experience, you would be forced to see the erroneous premiss of blatent materialism. Consciousness is not a product of brain tissue like piss is a product of kidney function. Consciousness is non-substantial and unextended in space-time. One cannot have a [brain] pan full of consciousness, like a pan of water. Consciousness, or Mind belongs to a different order of reality. It is undeniable based upon experience, but is always the Knower, not the known. It is not the object of instrument-measured empiricism because it is the subject which produces the idea and creation of such instrumentation. Consciousness is the 'a priori,' and its Source is prior to physics (i.e., metaphysical). Whether or not to discuss metaphysics in terms of religion, or one of the six classical branches of Western philosophy is a matter of choice.
-------------------- γνῶθι σαὐτόν - Gnothi Seauton - Know Thyself
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pattern
multiplayer
Registered: 07/19/02
Posts: 2,185
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
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Re: Merely a function of our chemical make up. [Re: MarkostheGnostic]
#903144 - 09/23/02 10:28 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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> Chemicals are "merely" one dimension of a multidimensional phenomenon called Consciousness
good point!!!!
ps. i picture Dr Evil holding two hands up while saying "merely"
-------------------- man = monkey + mushroom
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Sclorch
Clyster
Registered: 07/12/99
Posts: 4,805
Loc: On the Brink of Madness
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Re: Merely a function of our chemical make up. [Re: Albino_Jesus]
#903167 - 09/23/02 10:38 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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AJ- compatibilist approach
Swami- libertarian approach
Sclorch- neither... there is no doctrine which satisfies me, except my own... I'd like to go into more detail, but it'll have to wait until I learn all that science knows about the brain (it's gonna take awhile)
-------------------- Note: In desperate need of a cure...
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Swami
Eggshell Walker
Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: Merely a function of our chemical make up. [Re: MarkostheGnostic]
#903557 - 09/24/02 01:20 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Had you ever known an OOBE, a convincing Out-of-the-Body-Experience, you would be forced to see the erroneous premiss of blatent[sic] materialism.
But many of us have NOT (substitute any of the following):
seen a ghost.
had an NDE.
met an alien.
talked to God.
performed telekinesis.
Experienced clairvoyance.
So those that haven't (substitute the following that applies) are:
not the chosen ones.
unlucky.
spiritual hillbillies.
not gullible enough to see the Virgin Mary in a window.
thick as a brick.
Consciousness is not a product of brain tissue like piss is a product of kidney function.
Consciousness is a function of the brain, as blood purity is a function of the kidneys might be a better analogy.
I guess until I too, have a convincing experience (if ever) will have to remain "stuck" in blatant materialism.
-------------------- The proof is in the pudding.
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MarkostheGnostic
Elder
Registered: 12/09/99
Posts: 14,279
Loc: South Florida
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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Re: Merely a function of our chemical make up. [Re: Swami]
#903903 - 09/24/02 05:44 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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...and then there's faith. Both gnosis and faith are 'salvific,' while materialism is not. But of course, when condemned to a 'flatland' view of materialism, salvation seems superfluous, irrelevant, imaginary. One needs to be lifted 'out of the plane' in which one is embedded to perceive from the next higher dimension. This 'vertical,' movement is a transcendental movement - you know, a 'shifting of one's assemblage point.' Then again (tick-tock goes the pendulum), believing in someone elses experience means both faith, and hope for one's own similar experience to occur. A freely willed decision to suspend one's materialistic bias, based on sensory and rational apprehension for a more intuitive mode of knowing. This is more difficult, but not impossible, if one is an 'S' or sensing type, rather than an 'N' or intuitive type, according to the MBTI. We all need to bring our inferior functions up to speed.
Spiritual Consciousness - the seat of consciousness - is often posited in the Heart. This is not a reality that has to do with Hebbian resonances, molecular memory or anything with neuronal processes. This locus lies with one of the 'sheaths' (Yoga) or 'garments' (Kabbala) of the 'subtle body' and its subtle physiology. The physical processes of consciousness can be traced to a certain extent of course, but the 'salvific' types of consciousness are said to exist in parallel to, but separate from the physical processes. The subtle body connects the two. These realities are experiential. I'm talking Diamond Body, Sacred Heart, Hridayam symbols of experience, and experience often follows faith. In fact, I would suggest that a subtle, formerly unnoticed faith (unconscious, as in the case of St. Paul) was prior to gnosis. So, it is not so much being chosen, as it is choosing. Refusing to assume a faith stance, because one is just a spiritual hillbilly is similar to placing Jesus on the highest pedestal and bowing down to Him instead of what He taught - which was to assume a certain position of Man to God.
-------------------- γνῶθι σαὐτόν - Gnothi Seauton - Know Thyself
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Albino_Jesus
Clearly Retarded
Registered: 09/14/02
Posts: 1,698
Loc: Construction ahead...
Last seen: 14 years, 2 months
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Re: Merely a function of our chemical make up. [Re: MarkostheGnostic]
#904173 - 09/24/02 09:28 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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In reply to:
Had you ever known an OOBE, a convincing Out-of-the-Body-Experience, you would be forced to see the erroneous premiss of blatent materialism.
um no? I've had a couple while meditating. there's nothing to convince me that it was anything other than a dream
-------------------- The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. -Ralph Nader
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