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RE: Consciousness on/off switch, Science, Contemplations

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RE: Consciousness on/off switch, Science, Contemplations
Answer
9/25/14 9:31 AM as a reply to Psi Phi.
Reading some other threads, coming across the ideas of re-birth, etc,  Which remined me of (here comes impersaonal associated thoughts arising), a quote, that I had thought was attributed to William Blake:

"Nothing lasts, yet nothing is lost.

So, we ponder, "here is this body, here is this mind", but from where does this arise, could this have existed before and exist after?

And, apparently all we are has existed already and all we are will continue to exist.


http://press.web.cern.ch/backgrounders/fourth-generation-particles

Everything we see – from coffee cups to computers to human beings – is made up of just three basic particles: two types of quarks that make up the nucleus of an atom and an electron that orbits that nucleus.



So "we stuff" has already been around, and will continue on changing and combining into new patterns, just like it is doing right now, in essence we are all sharing the same stuff.  Not even getting into the dark matter subject.

But , also, for consciousness to exist, it too has to be made of something, Mass and Energy, quarks and atoms, maybe stuff we as yet are unaware of.

But, do our patterns of consciousness come from times long gone and does it carry forward to the future?

If one has a past life memory, are you sure it is "your" past life memory, or just "a" past life memory.  (or sumthin' else)

Anyway, the quarks and electrons we are currently made of have been around for at least 13 billion years, "I" am older than "I" thought.  

Happy Birthday Everyone!

Psi Phi














RE: Consciousness on/off switch, Science, Contemplations
Answer
9/25/14 9:40 AM as a reply to Psi Phi.
Evidence builds that meditation strengthens the brain


http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/evidence-builds-that-meditation-230237



So, one could view meditation as exercise, for the brain.  And similar to bodybuilding, one could suppose that when one doesn't meditate, the gains one makes would atrophy, i.e. one would gradually lose the gains.  I think we often do not notice the changes meditation makes, as the process is gradual, but science is proving that there are real, positive and even physical effects of meditation. 

Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum.....emoticon

Psi Phi

RE: Consciousness on/off switch, Science, Contemplations
Answer
9/26/14 12:14 PM as a reply to Psi Phi.
  • What do we know … of the world and the universe about us? Our means of receiving impressions are absurdly few, and our notions of surrounding objects infinitely narrow. We see things only as we are constructed to see them, and can gain no idea of their absolute nature. With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos, yet other beings with wider, stronger, or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study whole worlds of matter, energy, and life which lie close at hand yet can never be detected with the senses we have.
    • "From Beyond" Written November 16, 1920, published June 1934 in The Fantasy Fan, 1
H.P. Lovecraft

RE: Consciousness on/off switch, Science, Contemplations
Answer
9/26/14 1:32 PM as a reply to Psi Phi.
How does the song go - Cthulhu wants me for a dark energy beam ?

RE: Consciousness on/off switch, Science, Contemplations
Answer
9/26/14 3:16 PM as a reply to Psi Phi.
My personal take on "self" is that it is emergent - meaning it is a distinct phenomena made of simpler parts.  In the same way a painting is made up of three simple primary colors, a painting did not exist "in the paint" before it was made, and if you scramble up the colors, it wont exist anymore.  You can say all the parts of the painting are still there, but that misses the point of a painting - it's ISness comes from the arrangement of the colors specifically.  The painting isn't just the molecules it's made of, it's the pattern those molecules make.  When I die, or when you die, the molecules that we are made up of will still exists, but we won't because we are the patterns. Buddhism seems to be about allowing the pattern to recognize itself - a kind of death before death.

I've never really been clear how rebirth could be a part of Buddhism. Mahayana talks about "karmic seeds" which I take to mean that this pattern we are (our "self") causes other patterns to emerge elsewhere through our interaction with the world. When we are enlightened (or become Bodhisattvas, which is more the Mahayana ideal) our pattern causes other patterns to move towards enlightenment as well. The end of rebirth would be when everything is enlightened together.

Theravada seems to take a more practical approach that we are reborn directly, but then, Theravada is also more focused on anatta than Mahayana seems to be, so there's a bit of a conflict there.