JamesThomas, yes, right now I'm on a Mac. I wish I knew what those "things" are that you mentioned.
What is Truth?
by onacruse 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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darth frosty
Stupid question time. Where is that quote from? At the top it say's w7/1/79 and at the bottom it says C.T.R. is that the 1879 w?
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Terry
We have five tunnels to the outside:
1.Seeing
2.Hearing
3.Tasting
4.Sniffing
5.Touching
The rest is metaphorical. (We mix and blend analogies in poetic representations)
Now the above 5 senses let us know what IS. They are referents (because we refer to them.)
If we can't see, hear, taste, sniff, or touch we cannot know. We can only surmise, conjecture and pretend.
The world of human thought really comes down to the preference of which you end up allowing to guide your base of knowledge: actual referents through your senses, or; the metaphorical imagination.
Critics of our senses don't seem to realize we balance our checkbooks, send rockets to the moon and discover the constituency of DNA very precisely. All because we've managed to use referents through our senses.
The mystic immediately wants to undermine your senses so that the metaphor (his metaphor) can break in to your mind and hijack your software by running a program of fantasy.
Reality corresponds to something you can use your senses to reach, measure, and quantify precisely.
The "mysterious" is out of reach of our senses because it isn't there except in our imagination where we can pretend it has greater being than mere thought.
TRUTH is knowing the difference between the proof of our senses and mere determined surmise, conjecture and imagination.
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stark
poppers your original question was: " So then, what is reality? How does one determine exactly what that is?"
In your recent post you made a number of truth claims such as:
"Now, that is a great question,"
"to equate "am-ness" with thinking is what has gotten this world so screwed up."
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It does no good to create ideas around who/what one is,"
"this alone reveals the truth of one's existence."
"What "I" am cannot be put into words, cannot be revealed to others"
and more.
Your post sounds as if you have not only determined that there is a reality, but that you have determined what that reality is. So I give you the obvious question: how do you know?
And you also seem to have answered the final question of my last post which was: "...do you believe that, in reality, you exist?"
I found the answer I was looking for when you said: "What's left when there are no words, that's what I am. See if this is so with yourself as well, and if it is seen then you'll know what I am talking about."
When you use "I am" are you not saying that you are?
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poppers
From Stark: "When you use "I am" are you not saying that you are?" There is "am-ness" only and that's what I am - not an I that is separate from anything or anyone else, but the ground upon which all ideas of "me" and "others" arise. This "am-ness" has many names, but those names are only words/concepts; they do little in the way of revealing just what this "am-ness" is. When resting as this there is the knowing of it - it is knowingness itself, without any particular object within it. Just as the sun needs nothing outside itself to illuminate it, this "am-ness" is Self-shining. Without it nothing else could possibly be known. In talking/writing about this one is left with words/concepts, and in this lots of confusion and misunderstanding follows. I call this "truth" because it is always here and never changes, unlike everything else - there is nothing that can change or affect it in any way. This has to be revealed within oneself directly, and no amount of describing it or persuading others that this is truth helps them realize it for themselves. It must be investigated for oneself - realize it and then see if this is "true" or not.
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onacruse
darth frosty:
Where is that quote from? At the top it say's w7/1/79 and at the bottom it says C.T.R. is that the 1879 w?
Yes, 1879.