Post: #1

Something I've been deeply thinking about lately is the paradox of being nothing in the universe vs. being someone who is eternally remembered, or that can change the course of human history.

On the one hand, we have the camp of people that believes that their nothingness in this universe sets them free. And I can see where they are coming from. Whatever risks you take, whatever pain you endure, is nothing in the grand scheme of time and space. For we are but ants on a ball of rock, hurtling through infinity.

On the other, we have the people that believe that we are everything, and are focused on the YOUniverse instead. Some really only focus on themselves, their immediate surroundings being the only thing they care about; those living for the now. Others may have the belief that we can change the world, go down in history, and be remembered by all.

Perhaps it's a newer phenomenon, in that people in the past had no knowledge of the universe, and believed that everything revolved around us. But with one look skyward, you know there's more out there. In reading Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, it seems that he himself struggles with this paradox, in that he believes that: “The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you. Always reflect that soon you will be no one, and nowhere.”

Yet at the same time, writing "What we do now echoes in eternity".

I would like to think that I am someone, that in building things or bettering lives, could become worth remembering, but perhaps that's my ego wanting fulfilment. I have also found peace in times of great pain or sadness that my feelings don't really matter, and that my existence is really just a movie that ends one day, never to be played again.

Both sides of the discussion could be seen as empowering or also at times crippling. For example if you believe you are nothing, it could set you free to try new things, lacking fear of failure, but at the same time, you may also become lethargic, or downright depressed that your existence means nothing at all. And, if you believe that you are everything, it may entice you to treat others with respect, build empires, and work towards doing good that is remembered. But I could also see how this may handcuff you into believing that everything matters maybe even too much, and you may decide that you can't do anything at all, the task being so massive

Have you at all thought about this paradox, or do you belong to one camp or the other? It's something that's been on my mind for months now.

Post: #2

In matter like these, I prefer to stick to this nice quote from Alpha Centauri:

Academician Prokhor Zakharov Wrote:“What actually transpires beneath the veil of an event horizon? Decent people shouldn’t think too much about that.”

Post: #3

This has to do with one's perspective of eternity. The modern assumption is that the universe has a beginning and an end. When one instead actually perceives Eternity, without beginning or end, and realizes we can move throughout Eternity, then it is no paradox.

Post: #4

Thanks for the thoughtful post and inquiry. There is a very big difference - indescribably big - between belief and knowing. Most people who rely on belief lack true conviction. Belief is a thing of the mind.

But when you know something throughout your being, the mind is not the source of that truth. The mind may or may not understand that knowing (often it doesn't) but that doesn't change it. For example, the selfless love a parent has for a child is a knowing that transcends belief.

In times past men would undertake an initiation to learn their place in their tribe. They learned their purpose and tested themselves. This gave them a knowing no one could give or remove from them. It may not have been a transcendent knowing but it was a functional one - they knew how to live and how to be part of life. There was nothing fuzzy about it.

In industrialized countries we've lost those meaningful coming of age rituals for the most part, so we are left to discover for ourselves. From my explorations and questing I've gone from having certain beliefs to releasing many of them.

I've experienced - aided by meditating on the question 'what am I?' - an awareness of myself as nothingness. Without question, without doubt, without reference to idea or belief - I fell into nothingness. It was terrifying during the experience, but it shifted my perspective about who or what I actually was. This is having the experience of 'no-Self' described in spiritual traditions such as Buddhism.

Some people (many people perhaps) can have this experience which leaves them with a clear knowing of their not-a-thing-ness, and from that knowing a certain liberation arises. You know you can do anything (or nothing) and it really doesn't matter. You can be in this awareness space for a short or a long time, but it's a crucial step toward self-realization. You also can't 'believe' yourself into nothingness because that would be a construct of the mind and therefore without grounding in the world of experience. You must 'grok' your nothingness before you can take the next step.

Whether through some inner dissatisfaction with emptiness or a practical concern for 'how should I live my life now?', there usually comes a movement toward finding purpose and living in a way that harmonizes with your unique personality. Being awake in the spiritual sense, whether via the stories and teachings of Jesus Christ, or Buddha, or other sages, does carry with it a sense of responsibility to the world. You have been given a great gift - the greatest possible gift in fact! You have died before you have died. You are not just empty but radiantly empty! There is a love that is unleashed, slowly or suddenly, from your awakened heart that knows you are FREE and yet you are still in possession of a human body! And human personality, and your faults and foibles and fancies may still remain. So you have work to do on yourself if you choose and at the same time you can express your new knowing through your work, your art, your dance, your every movement.

There is a great intimacy with all beings that will arise from a knowing and grokking of emptiness. This doesn't mean you need to start a church or a relief mission to Ghana or save every stray dog or homeless person you see. But you feel in your heart that everyone is your brother and sister, and even if you might not like them, there is a love for them.

This is where the mind that merely believes gets tripped up, because belief cannot convince the mind to love (or to realize that love is a much richer idea than most people think). You may do things naturally, through your new knowing and freedom, that make no sense to your mind yet you absolutely trust as correct. A sign you are living an awakened life is that your actions leave less and less negative residue in the world, and perhaps even increase the joy, peace, and happiness of others - and naturally, your own as well.

Others are a mirror for our inner world. As the initial knowing of emptiness matures, we recognize ourselves as an expansive somethingness - an everythingness, even. There is no conflict, except in a mind that may not understand how this deeper knowing works in practice - but it does. You still have your personality and preferences but those are held more curiously than rigidly. Principles become more important than possessions. Your attention can alternate between the transcendent and the mundane and the whole spectrum of life experience is beautiful and important, as well as ridiculous and transitory. Both and neither, neti neti.

To avoid becoming lost in emptiness it's important to recognize your unique talents which help you then consciously ground your actions in a way that aligns with your new found freedom. There is no dichotomy between freedom and responsibility when both are recognized as two sides of the same coin. 'With great power comes great responsibility' as Peter Parker was told as he became Spider-Man.

I agree with Youngblade, Eternity is the true reality. The mind is time-bound and rushing but our soul is Eternal and wise. To wake up to the Eternal clarifies these questions and seeming contractions between action and inaction. My favorite spiritual teacher is Adyashanti and I've benefitted tremendously from his books, live satsangs, and silent meditation retreats. Here is a video segment of one Satsang (Sat = Truth, sang = association, or 'association of Truth')

Adyashanti: What Do You Really Want?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85LGkMYpFGM&app=desktop

And a funny yet instructive video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YdQnuqFlD7U

Post: #5

We are what we think.

"The Dhammapada (Scriptures)

1. The Twin

What we are is the result of what we have thought,
is built by our thoughts, is made up of our thoughts.
If one speaks or acts with an impure thought,
suffering follows one,
like the wheel of the cart follows the foot of the ox.

What we are is the result of what we have thought,
is built by our thoughts, is made up of our thoughts.
If one speaks or acts with a pure thought,
happiness follows one,
like a shadow that never leaves...."

Post: #6

Tiger, those videos hit me hard, and actually made me think even further about seeking the truth in all things that I do, as well as helping others to experience joy.

It seems that life is perpetual struggle to find one's self, for I've felt in the past that I had found what my "purpose" was, and lost it again. However one thing is clear, it is the struggle that makes life worth living.

I also see where you are coming from in the difference between believing in something and actually knowing it in your heart, mind, and soul. Perhaps that is what I'm working on most at this point, to know exactly who I am, and to not just believe it, but to know it, to wear it in my being every day of my life.

The fact of the matter is that we are lucky to be able to ponder such questions, for we live in a society in which we aren't scrounging for food, or worried about being killed by the enemy at any given instant. I also think that we are unlucky in that there are so many external forces for us to fall into, trying to push us from the path that we should be on, whatever that is for each and every man.

Meditation is one of the clear necessities today, in order to de-clutter yourself and find what truly matters. I need to work on this more.