It could conceivably be posited that one sees Jesus upon gazing at JCanon's avatar. I believe that he is currently sporting a fake, 1960's-style "Afro" hairdo,
Rapunzel
JoinedPosts by Rapunzel
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27
Do You Expect to See Jesus?
by cameo-d indo you believe that jesus is yet to come?
do you believe that you will see him for real when he does?.
do you hope to?.
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27
Do You Expect to See Jesus?
by cameo-d indo you believe that jesus is yet to come?
do you believe that you will see him for real when he does?.
do you hope to?.
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Rapunzel
Yeah, I just saw mi amigo, Jesus, the Puerto Rican dude. Ese vato es muy simpatico, Ud. lo sabe?
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Freedom from choice?
by Narkissos injust a few reflections as i announced on blueblades' thread about 'the commands to love and free will'.. what is freedom?.
i think it is practically impossible to give an absolute (= timeless, or contextless) answer to such a question.
there is both continuity and difference in the use (hence meaning) of notions like "freedom" (or "liberty") from one language, culture, civilisation, period of history, to another.... we can, to an extent, provide contextually defined answers -- and those will be mostly negative: to the ancient world "freedom" would have been construed as the opposite of slavery, or captivity, or foreign rule (for instance).
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Rapunzel
A quote from Terry Eagleton's, The Meaning of Life - A Very Short Introduction: "Besides, to be conscious of our limits, which death throws into unforgiving relief, is also to be conscious of the way we are dependent on and constrained by others. When St. Paul comments that we die every moment, part of what he has in mind is perhaps the fact that we can only live well by buckling the self to the needs of others, in a kind of little death...In doing so, we rehearse and prefigure that final self-abnegation which is death. In this way, death in the sense of ceaseless dying to self is the source of the good life. If this sounds unpleasantly slavish and self-denying, it is only because we forget that if others do this as well, the result is a reciprocal form of self-service which provides the context for each to flourish. The traditional name for this reciprocity is love."
I think that Eagleton's words correspond, at least to some extent, to my prior post on this thread linking the notion of freedom to that of love.
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Anyone interested in numerology?
by Sunnygal41 ini find such things fascinating.
feel free to share anything you care to.. as an example, i am sharing some information i found for the number 40:.
40 = 4 = humanity's movement through time to completion, closure.
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Rapunzel
It's interesting that in the minds of many Japanese and Taiwanese, the number "4" is associated with death. In the Chinese and Japanese languages, the word designating the number "4" sounds very similar to the word "death." Many hospitals and hotels in Taiwan have no floor with the number 4. In other words, the floor or level directly above floor/level number three has the number "5." In numbering the levels/floors in many of their buildings, Taiwanese will skip from level 3 right to level 5. There is no "fourth floor" because no one would be willing to occupy a room on any floor with the number 4. There is no problem with asking people to occupy a room on the level directly above level 3; it's just that they give it the number 5.
In Taiwan, there is a big problem with motor vehicle registration plates and telephone numbers. Nobody wants to have the number "4" appearing in either one. People pay money to have such numbers changed to a more "auspicious" number.
Likewise, multiples of 4 such as 40, 400, and 4000 are also bad. The only exception is a series in which the number "4" appears five times. This is because, in the Chinese language, the phrase "five 4's" [wu sz] sounds siimilar to "no death."
For this reason, I put absolutely no stock at all in numerology. For me, it's just a bunch of superstition. It's ironic that in Western culture, the number 4 is viewed as favorable, while in Asians cultures, the number is shunned and avoided like the plague.
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Freedom from choice?
by Narkissos injust a few reflections as i announced on blueblades' thread about 'the commands to love and free will'.. what is freedom?.
i think it is practically impossible to give an absolute (= timeless, or contextless) answer to such a question.
there is both continuity and difference in the use (hence meaning) of notions like "freedom" (or "liberty") from one language, culture, civilisation, period of history, to another.... we can, to an extent, provide contextually defined answers -- and those will be mostly negative: to the ancient world "freedom" would have been construed as the opposite of slavery, or captivity, or foreign rule (for instance).
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Rapunzel
As is my wont, I consulted a dictionary as to the etymological meaning of the word free/freedom. Curiously [and ironically?], the word, freedom, is closely linked or associated with the concept/idea of love or beloved.
The word free is a Germanic one that has been in the English language since its [the language's] "birth." The word free has its origins in Old English; and it designated the idea of "loving" or "setting free." Could it possibly [and paradoxically] be that the "bonds" that are associated with love are the very things that set us free? In any case, the word "free" meant both "love" and "set free" in Old English. Then again, etymology is not everything after all.
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Gag alert! Latest email from devout JW Mom
by bud2114 inmy mother knows i have lots of issues with the org.
yet she still forwards me this crap as "encouragement".
i love my mother, but i wish i could get through to her that jw's aren't any more special to god than anyone else.
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Rapunzel
Reading this kind of stuff really makes me feel highly ambivalent. I have two conflicting and mutually exclusive feelings/opinions on the matter, that is to say that I am "of two minds." On the one hand, I am wholly supportive of free speech and free expression, even though I categorically disagree with what is said. The e-mail in question, in my opinion is utter bilge, total nonsense. But it definitely falls squarely within the domain of "free speech." It is by no means "hate speech." It only offends the intellect. Then again, I willingly concede that my opinions may well offend someone else''s intellect.
On the other hand, I cannot help but bemoan and regret the wasting of resources involved. In this case, it is a question of "bandwidth" and Internet resources. I recently read an article that warned that the entire Internet could totally "collapse" or "crash down" in the near future, in about five to ten years. And if the Internet does ever crash, it will be due to be overwhelmed by all the "traffic" - the amount of data. Regretably, much of the data in question is made up of garbage such as spam and porn, and other worthless stuff. Many people think that the Internet has infinite capacity and capability. It doesn't. Scientists and researchers are already encountering problems. They are finding that their computer systems are being considerably slowed down and hindered.
I am afraid that this will soon be an enormous problem. The issue is not due to legitimate use. The Internet can easily handle the legitimate needs of scientists and everyone else, for that matter. The problem lies precisely in the misuse/abuse of Internet resources. Just as it is the case with our "natural" resources, the resources of the Internet are in danger of being squandered, wasted, and depleted.
The ultimate problem is that the scientific/technological advances, progress, and developments of the human species are quickly outpacing our "spiritual" or "ethical" development/evolution.
I somewhat regret having to use the words "spiritual" or "ethical," but I'm tired, and at the moment, these are the only words that come to my mind. But my basic idea is this: We humans, as a species, are not developing at the same speed as our technology. As for the Internet, it seems that, no sooner have we created it, we are abusing and squandering it, effectively putting it [along with ourselves] to waste.
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Rapunzel
The "Thugs" were a group of marauding, professional robber-murderers in India. They had a reputation for being utterly ruthless. After robbing their hapless victims, their custom was to murder them by strangulation.
Given that these "Thugs" were presumably not Christians, they would no doubt be considered as "bad association," and consequently people to avoid.
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Has Anyone On This Board Ever Had a Near Death Experience?
by Rapunzel ini was wondering if anyone had ever experienced a n.d.e.
has anyone ever felt that they were visited by a family member/loved one who had passed on?.
i have read that some scientists theorize that n.d.e.
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Rapunzel
Dawna - It seems that some members of your family are, what would be called in Taiwan, "ghost spotters." Tawanese believe very much in ghosts, and they also believe that certain people possess the ability to see ghosts. And from what I was told, not all ghosts are happy when they realize that they are being perceived by a living person.
In your post, you seem to say that there is an afterlife that is available to some people. Do you think that it is only for a select goup, and not everyone? Perhaps that is why I experienced nothing at all. Perhaps some people are intended to enter an after-world, while others enter into eternal consciouslessness - oblivion.
Dawna, if you can find the time, I woul like to read about your experiences. I would also like to know other's views on N.D.E.'s Are they essentially totally subjective phenomena that occur wholly within the brain of the person? Are they the result of bio-chemical releases within the brain, the triggering of neuronal responses and discharges? In this respect, do they share at least something in common with ordinary dreams? Of course, the two phenomena - NDE's and dreams - are quite different. But could it be that they share something - some connection [no matter how tenuous - in common?
My bigger question is: With the obvious exception of physical entities and objects, how much of our personal reality is limited solely to the limits of our own brains/minds? For example, we all know that people's dreams are different. Some are primarily aural, while most are visual. Some poeple claim the ability to control the flow of their dreams. Could it be due to neuro-chemical diffeences alone, that some people experience NDE's while other people experience nothing. Why did I experience nothing? Is it that my brain simply is not "wired" that way?
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Has Anyone On This Board Ever Had a Near Death Experience?
by Rapunzel ini was wondering if anyone had ever experienced a n.d.e.
has anyone ever felt that they were visited by a family member/loved one who had passed on?.
i have read that some scientists theorize that n.d.e.
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Rapunzel
Aniron - The glistening humor of your irony has come shining through.
I attended a few conventions during my time as a Witness; and, as I have desribed, I have had a caridac arrest. I can't say that attending the conventions afforded me the opportunity to experience anything remotely approaching a N.D.E. But then again, neither did the heart attack.
I would not wish a heart attack on my worst enemy. They intubate you and connect you to a respirator. Then they strap tie both hands to the sides of your bed to immobilize you so that you don't rip out the tube that's stuck deep down your throat, into your lungs. You can't speak because of that tube. And you have no say in the matter. You have no choice.
The positioning of the tube itself is very uncomfortable because your mouth is propped open wide so that the tube abd mouthpiece fit in and secure. The worst thing about the tube is how your body reacts to it. Your body "interprets" the tube as a "foreign" object, which is exactly what it is. Once the tube is put in, your body will begin to produce massive amounts of sputem or mucous. Sputem is an excellent cleansing tool. Unfortunately, what your body does not realize is that it will never be able to produce enough sputem to rinse the tube out, but the body keeps trying and trying.
The problem is that the sputem clogs the tube which is bringing oxygen to your lungs, heart, and brain. When the sputem begins to block the air flow, the nurses use a power vacuum device to suction out the sputem. When they employ this device, the "patient'" body will look like a fish thrown on dry land; it will jolt, heave, and spasm because not only does the device remove the sputem from the tube, it also temporarilly removes air from the lungs.
IIn my opinion, I would have been far better off dead. I was intubated for about five days, and I required vacuum suction every few hours or so. Death is better.
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Has Anyone On This Board Ever Had a Near Death Experience?
by Rapunzel ini was wondering if anyone had ever experienced a n.d.e.
has anyone ever felt that they were visited by a family member/loved one who had passed on?.
i have read that some scientists theorize that n.d.e.
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Rapunzel
I thank everyone for their responses.
Cameo-d: I experienced nothing of what you describe. This happened, in March of the year 2003, while I was living in Taiwan. As I said, it was "lights out" in a local hospital named "Chi-Shan." And it was "lights on" at another hospital in the southern city of Kaohsiung. The hospital's name is "Chou-Chung He."
As I said, I know that I was transported via ambulance from the first to the second. I imagine that, as they say, it must have been "one hell of a ride." But I remember absolutely nothing of the ride. I know from having consulted records, and having spoken with doctors, that I was declared DOA at Chou-Chung He and that there was CPR performed on me, which obviously "brought me back" [I subsequently learned that the survival rate with CPR technique is a mere 5%. I realize that by accounts, by any estimation, I really should not have survived that episode. There has been no doctor who could really explain or theorize how someone in my condition could have hopped on a motorcycle and driven themselves to the E.R. of the first hospital.]
I do remember one very odd thing that happened, or rather kept on happening, before I hopped on my motorcycle. It was my telephone that kept on ringing and ringing. It was so strange that anyone would call me at that hour of the night [It was after 11 p.m.] It is very hard for me to describe my physical condition. It is really almost impossibe unless someone has experienced cardiac arrest. I just remember gasping and gasping. The slightest body movement on my part would only worsen the gasping. I was sitting in bed, gasping for air, as if I had just sprinted full speed up a very steep hill. That's why I did not answer the phone; I could not speak. I could barely breathe. I am usually not one to ignore an incoming call, but unless someone has been in that condition, it is impossible to know how it feels.
In any case, it was odd about the phone. It would ring. I would ignore it and say to myself: "I'll go to the hospital later, when I feel better. It's late. Why bother the folks in the E.R. at this hour? I'll wait until 7:00 or 8:00 a.m., a more "reasonable" hour [Of course, looking back, I realize how f***** up this "thinking" of mine was. The truth is that I did not have that much more time to wait.]
Well, I will never know just who it was that kept on calling and calling. But I will also never forget it. either. But at that moment, it was pysically impossible for me to speak. And what would have I said, if I had picked up the phone?
But, to reiterate, I neither saw nor heard anything whatsoever until my eyes opened at the second hospital. I saw no visions or lights. I heard no voices. As I said, just before losing consciousness at the first hospital, I felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue, but no nausea.
Years later, I asked a doctor to read and translate the entry for what happened that night. The nurses reported me speaking in a strange, babbling voice. They did not speak English so well, but they said that my speech deslayed "disorientation." They stated that what I said made no sense. I have absolutely no recollection or awareness of this. Like I said, my last coscious thought, the last thought that I remember in that E.R. that night was: "That gurney looks mighty comfortable. I'll sleep well tonight." And, sure enough, I did sleep well. In fact, I almost slept forever.