tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5236639220165681993.post7978748923607009099..comments2023-07-25T01:32:51.796-07:00Comments on Beyond Evolution; Is There God After Dawkins?: THE GAME OF LIFE (A PARABLE)beyondevolutionistheregodafterdawkins.blogspotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09625513549242420865noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5236639220165681993.post-58488333164908634262009-07-11T15:11:37.882-07:002009-07-11T15:11:37.882-07:00Rudy,
Sorry for the long delay. Some of the quest...Rudy,<br />Sorry for the long delay. Some of the questions you pose are answered, I hope, in a new post, FREEDOM, which I published recently. <br /><br />I applaud your curious spirit, especially in our present times when we are given the false impression that questions about the basic mysteries of life have been answered.<br /><br />Thanks for your continued support.<br />MattMatt Chaithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16016063540948394841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5236639220165681993.post-41863072102316231052009-05-02T21:37:00.000-07:002009-05-02T21:37:00.000-07:00Hi Matt,
It's Rudy again. I may be one of y...Hi Matt, <br /><br />It's Rudy again. I may be one of your most annoying commenters. I truly admire your articles and devour them when I have the time. For some reason, the topics you write about have been of great interest to me lately. I have also been reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and also "Scaling the Secular City" by J.P. Moreland and watching a bunch of videos on youtube regarding a "Ghost in the Machine" and a Yale University series on philosophy physicalism, dualism, Souls, etc....<br /><br /><br />The nature of persons: dualism vs. physicalism<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh-6HyTRNNY<br /><br />John Searle: Beyond Dualism Pt. 1<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRwOuE7IJoA<br /><br />Arguments for the existence of the soul, Part I<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR63MMAi-fs&feature=PlayList&p=EA18FAF1AD9047B0&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2<br /><br />Steven Pinker on the 'Ghost in the Machine', Soul, Free Will<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A_r6_GGv3U<br /><br />As I try to digest all of this material and formulate my on belief system, there is one contrast that I would like to share with you.<br /><br />As I read and re-read your article titled "THE GAME OF LIFE (A PARABLE)", I am reminded of a paragraph in C.S. Lewis book "Mere Christianity". It is the last two pages of chapter 4. <br /><br />C.S. Lewis talks of a "Life Force" philosophy which he refers to as an "inbetween" view of the materialists and the religious views. Specifically he writes, "When you are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that the whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms, it is nice to be able to think of this great Mysterious Force rolling through centuries and carrying you on its crest. If on the other hand, you want to do something rather shabby, the Life-Force being only a blind force, with no morals and no mind, will not interfere with you like that troublesome God we learned about when we were children. The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it off when you want, but it will not bother you. All the thrills of religion and none of the cost. Is this Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen?"<br /><br />Matt, I must re-state at this point that I absolutely devour your writings. I have said this before and I will say it again, I am one of your biggest fans. As I read "The Game of Life (A Parable)", I try to apply it to my own belief system and one part is just not fitting nicely. I know that is my problem and not yours but I do value your opinion. I remember that you gave the example of the child losing his ice cream, and at one point you also capitalized the phrase of going through this life "JUST FOR THE EXPERIENCE OF IT" and you also wrote the following:<br /><br />Does this perspective, even if it is basically accurate, lead one to a very casual attitude toward this life and an indifference to the suffering of others? No. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. If you think that this life is your entire existence, then anything that can be construed as negative is a tragedy. With age usually comes a wider perspective, if not an eternal one.<br /><br />So please let me try to explain my issue. I am sorry if I am too verbose.<br /><br />Your articles are almost always positive and uplifting and that is a very admirable thing. The stories you write make people think about themselves in beautiful new ways. However in real life, it isn't just children losing ice cream cones as you know. We have what appears to be a real evil presence. I could go into Catholic priests molesting children and list out many many other evil deeds that corrupt this earth we live upon. I am sure you are aware of the evil that I refer so there is no reason to elaborate on the many many examples. <br /><br />If I try to apply your article "The Game of Life (A Parable)" to this world, it would mean that I will at some point in the future be re-united with these evil doers in some form of grand Cosmic-Consciousness. I do not know if there is a Hell as spoken about in the Bible. I know you never refer to any specific religion in your writings and I respect you for that. But I find it hard to fathom that say Hitler will simply be sincerely ashamed of his actions when we meet in the hereafter just before we both get re-united into a Godhead. The parable you write about seems to leave out any "punishment" in the hereafter for deeds performed in this world.<br /><br />It seems to me that there is indeed a moral law installed in all of us as talked about by C.S. Lewis and that God wants us to strive to adhere to this moral law as best we can. Of course only God will be our judge and I in no way can know the heart of any other man on this earth except mine own so I will not concern myself with the judgment of anyone else except my own self. Having stated this, I can't rule out even in my own belief system some concept of "judgment" for deeds done on this earth.<br /><br />The Game of Life parable is a beautiful story. My only misgiving about the story is that it seems to imply to the reader that there is no "judgment" for evil deeds or sinning. I can fathom that say when I meet a catholic priest in the hereafter that his punishment will be that he is "ashamed". If we are all "oneness" as you write (even Catholic priests who molest children) wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of playing a game for a short period of time "JUST FOR THE EXPERIENCE OF IT"? Why would anyone ever want to play a game of life where the outcome for their own actions could go so horribly wrong and become a part of their own identity for eternity?<br /><br /><br />I have heard of the eastern concept called Karma but that concept implies individualism, not the oneness (Godhead) you write about. <br /><br />Anyways, I kind of rambled on a bit. I am truly inspired by your writings and think they are some of the most wonderful thinking I have ever read. I am shocked you do not put them in a book and instead offer them freely to anyone who comes by your blog. I just wanted to share my feedback as I am a huge fan. It may be that my Western culture has so strongly driven the concept of "judgment" into my head that it is hard for me to fathom other ways of thinking about this issue.<br /><br />Take Care Matt!Rudynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5236639220165681993.post-61137120316477588302008-09-03T06:46:00.000-07:002008-09-03T06:46:00.000-07:00...the reason for the Divine Will and delight in s......the reason for the Divine Will and delight in such a difficult and tormented progressive manifestation and the reason for the soul’s assent to it... is not altogether a mystery if we look at our own nature and can suppose some kindred movement of being in the beginning as its cosmic origin. On the contrary, a play of self-concealing and self-finding is one of the most strenuous joys that conscious being can give to itself, a play of extreme attractiveness. There is no greater pleasure for man himself than a victory which is in its very principle a conquest over difficulties, a victory in knowledge, a victory in power, a victory in creation over the impossibilities of creation, a delight in the conquest over an anguished toil and a hard ordeal of suffering. At the end of separation is the intense joy of union, the joy of a meeting with a self from which we were divided. There is an attraction in ignorance itself because it provides us with the joy of discovery, the surprise of new and unforeseen creation, a great adventure of the soul; there is a joy of the journey and the search and the finding, a joy of the battle and the crown, the labour and the reward of labour... (Sri Aurobindo, <I>The Life Divine</I>)<BR/><BR/>Once in the immortal boundlessness of Self,<BR/>In a vast of Truth and Consciousness and Light<BR/>The soul looked out from its felicity.<BR/>It felt the Spirit’s interminable bliss,<BR/>It knew itself deathless, timeless, spaceless, one,<BR/>It saw the Eternal, lived in the Infinite.<BR/>Then, curious of a shadow thrown by Truth,<BR/>It strained towards some otherness of self,<BR/>It was drawn to an unknown Face peering through night.<BR/>It sensed a negative infinity,<BR/>A void supernal whose immense excess<BR/>Imitating God and everlasting Time<BR/>Offered a ground for Nature’s adverse birth<BR/>And Matter’s rigid hard unconsciousness<BR/>Harbouring the brilliance of a transient soul<BR/>That lights up birth and death and ignorant life.<BR/>A Mind arose that stared at Nothingness<BR/>Till figures formed of what could never be;<BR/>It housed the contrary of all that is.<BR/>A Nought appeared as Being’s huge sealed cause,<BR/>Its dumb support in a blank infinite,<BR/>In whose abysm spirit must disappear:<BR/>A darkened Nature lived and held the seed<BR/>Of Spirit hidden and feigning not to be.<BR/>Eternal Consciousness became a freak<BR/>Of an unsouled almighty Inconscient<BR/>And, breathed no more as spirit’s native air,<BR/>Bliss was an incident of a mortal hour,<BR/>A stranger in the insentient universe.<BR/>As one drawn by the grandeur of the Void<BR/>The soul attracted leaned to the Abyss:<BR/>It longed for the adventure of Ignorance<BR/>And the marvel and surprise of the Unknown<BR/>And the endless possibility that lurked<BR/>In the womb of Chaos and in Nothing’s gulf<BR/>Or looked from the unfathomed eyes of Chance.<BR/>It tired of its unchanging happiness,<BR/>It turned away from immortality:<BR/>It was drawn to hazard’s call and danger’s charm,<BR/>It yearned to the pathos of grief, the drama of pain,<BR/>Perdition’s peril, the wounded bare escape,<BR/>The music of ruin and its glamour and crash,<BR/>The savour of pity and the gamble of love<BR/>And passion and the ambiguous face of Fate.<BR/>A world of hard endeavour and difficult toil…<BR/>Called it from its too safe eternity.<BR/>A huge descent began, a giant fall:<BR/>For what the spirit sees, creates a truth<BR/>And what the soul imagines is made a world.<BR/>(Sri Aurobindo, <I>Savitri</I>)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5236639220165681993.post-8551959840264752502008-08-13T14:35:00.000-07:002008-08-13T14:35:00.000-07:00You have eloquently expressed my thoughts in words...You have eloquently expressed my thoughts in words I could not express. This explains what we are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5236639220165681993.post-87459327322119785152008-08-08T02:15:00.000-07:002008-08-08T02:15:00.000-07:00Another wonderful post, Matt, and this time, assur...Another wonderful post, Matt, and this time, assuredly, well “beyond Dawkins”. I have always intuited that boredom is at the root of manifestation, and I’m pleased to find you agree. Trouble is -what if, like me, you don’t like basketball or rollercoaster rides?!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5236639220165681993.post-30187587554972577892008-08-08T02:08:00.000-07:002008-08-08T02:08:00.000-07:00Good post! You obviously put a lot of effort in to...Good post! You obviously put a lot of effort in to think about life. I like your analogies especially the ice cream one - so true... I agree with your thought processes. That makes it our belief, and it makes a lot of sense to us and others. Scientifically it can't be proven and for a person of another belief system it may be heretic. But in all of my years also pondering on these things it is interesting how many people come to see life in the same way although we have no specific book we are working from or anyone else telling us all of this. Is it that if we let go of of the indoctrination of religions/figureheads and just feel life, we actually have an instinct for what we are ? Maybe in the same way as animals and insects know what to do regardless of never having been taught ?Fabrulanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15863743708289277515noreply@blogger.com