JamesThomas

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Posts by JamesThomas

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  161

  What if you're missing the purpose?

  by journey-on in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those of you who espouse the philosophy that one needs to discard who we "think" we are and embrace the "reality" of who we really are, what if, there is a divine purpose to our miniscule existence in the here and now and that purpose is to experience the pull of opposite forces (duality), and you are missing it by not allowing yourself to experience the ego self?

  what if you are missing the whole purpose of this pull of pain and joy by trying to suppress it or place yourself outside of it?

  the below is a short story sent to me by a friend and it is an example of what i'm inferring.

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  JamesThomas

  I will add: what could be more of a valid purpose, than to live our true nature?

  j
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  161

  What if you're missing the purpose?

  by journey-on in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those of you who espouse the philosophy that one needs to discard who we "think" we are and embrace the "reality" of who we really are, what if, there is a divine purpose to our miniscule existence in the here and now and that purpose is to experience the pull of opposite forces (duality), and you are missing it by not allowing yourself to experience the ego self?

  what if you are missing the whole purpose of this pull of pain and joy by trying to suppress it or place yourself outside of it?

  the below is a short story sent to me by a friend and it is an example of what i'm inferring.

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  JamesThomas

  Perhaps some are interpreting that to awaken to ones true Identity is to become a zombie detached from the multifaceted expressions of existence. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

  In line with what poppers already expressed, awakening to our real Self, dissolves the walls that make life seem as something separate and outside. We are the movement of life; all of it. Yet more than that, closer than that, we are the pristine awareness and stillness which all life moves and flows within. It seems paradoxical. It has to be experienced first hand.

  I wouldn't allow anything we might imagine awakening to be, to detour us from discovering for our selves; as it is nothing the mind can imagine.

  j
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  22

  The sacrifice of Christ to redeem humankind, Why?

  by VM44 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the perfect man and woman, soon after being created, failed short of god's requirements and so sin was introduced into the world.

  according to the watchtower, god's law required a "life for a life" and so a perfect human needed to be sacrificed, i.e., killed, in order for humanity to be redeemed.. my simple question concerning this doctrine is....why?.

  how does the death of a human, perfect or otherwise, help matters?

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  JamesThomas

  Leolaia,

  Yes, I agree that everything has a place.

  There are many here who champion the Bible as if it is more than just literature, and place a good deal of their definition of self into it. Perhaps the gist of my post was just to rattle the cage a little. No harm meant.

  I must admit that the Bible it not totally worthless, in fact the many years of my reading it taught me a very important lesson: that truth/reality is not found in ink and paper, no matter how sacred and holy people may believe those pages to be.

  j
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  42

  Perfection

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was talking to a friend of mine about perfection last night.. he made a comment that there was no way to have perfection, unless you made one thing and set that as perfect.

  everything after that would be a copy and otherwise would always in some way fall short of perfect, the original creation.

  we were talking about art.. and then he made a comment that god did not create us perfectly.

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  JamesThomas

  That we believe our beliefs and opinions to be valid and true is to exist within perfect chaos, which the mind can easily interpret as "imperfection"; and in a way it is as there is an identification with the shot-gun patterns of thought rather than the coherency of our authentic foundational-nature.

  As poppers said, genuine perfection already IS, when the concepts of perfection and imperfection (and all other dualities) are on vacation.

  j
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  22

  The sacrifice of Christ to redeem humankind, Why?

  by VM44 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the perfect man and woman, soon after being created, failed short of god's requirements and so sin was introduced into the world.

  according to the watchtower, god's law required a "life for a life" and so a perfect human needed to be sacrificed, i.e., killed, in order for humanity to be redeemed.. my simple question concerning this doctrine is....why?.

  how does the death of a human, perfect or otherwise, help matters?

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  JamesThomas

  Rather than getting lost in the minutia of Biblical whys and wherefores, it may be more beneficial to simply see the insanity of it all; and then choose to dwell elsewhere; perhaps living in reality would be a good place.

  imo

  j
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  25

  The ULTIMATE APOLOGIA

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the most complicated, transcendant (outside of time and space) mind in the universe is the universe.. that is an antimony, by the way.. this mind we can call "god".

  it simply "is".. what the consciousness of this mind considers is more real than the dreams we have or the plans we make.. that is the premise of what follows.

  read on..... this mind (all) is considering creating heavens and earth.

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  JamesThomas

  Thinking is a process our consciousness employs involving ideas. Ideas present objects of thought before the mind. So then, merely thinking about "self" or "existence" isn't possible because a process can't process a process.

  Exactly. Can't get there via the mind.

  Problem is we define "self" as the products of the mind, and so there is often inhibition to investigate into that which is not thought: the silent and mysterious consciousness that sees all thought.

  j
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  110

  For Lurkers Only

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  are you an active jehovah's witness?.

  i was when i found this place.. this place, jwd, didn't change that.. i knew that so many things were wrong with the organization.

  i was an elder.

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  JamesThomas

  Nvr, that was a truly wonderful post.

  Glad you are here with us.

  j
• 
  25

  The ULTIMATE APOLOGIA

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the most complicated, transcendant (outside of time and space) mind in the universe is the universe.. that is an antimony, by the way.. this mind we can call "god".

  it simply "is".. what the consciousness of this mind considers is more real than the dreams we have or the plans we make.. that is the premise of what follows.

  read on..... this mind (all) is considering creating heavens and earth.

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  JamesThomas

  An entertaining glimpse into Terry's encephalon. (in an attempt to look smart too, that was the first time in my life I've used that word; perhaps I'll use "glimpse", more often now).

  I don't believe any of it. But, it is certainly easy to concoct explanations out of mere nothing.

  It is fascinating where characters and situations come "from" when an author sits down to write or a storyteller begins to wing it.

  Yes, it's not about believing or adding more conceptual baggage. Speaking of fascinating: where does the character of "me" come from? When we actually sit an watch the mind weave its egoic-self, are we not watching the same imaginative "storyteller" at work molding yet another fictitious personality? Is that which is closer, that which is silently watching, really and truly any part of the story of "self"?

  As far as what consciousness "is"......well....the recursive nature of a thing looking at itself is too paradoxical to grasp hold of! At least for me. I'm afraid I'd plunge into a void of self-referential reflections that would carry me into a black hole of sorts and I'd pop out the other side of John Malkovich's head!

  Yes, it's not only difficult to grasp, it's impossible to hold in the limited mind what is limitless.

  Why is it so often problematic to simply sit and investigate into our most immediate and intimate sense of being? Seems it would be the easiest endeavor in the world. What is the obstruction? Perhaps it is revealed in what was casually mentioned:

  I'm afraid

  There is a huge amount of energy invested in our intellectually constructed sense of "self". It is often the center of the universe on which everything ever believed or thought firmly rests. Letting go of it can be frightening. For example:

  One day, while sitting on my bed, silently watching the mind and feeling the sensations within the body, a tiny irritation arose. Just an innocent little boredom it seemed. I continued to just sit and observe. The boredom started to get hotter and more persistent. Interesting. Within a few minutes it became clear that there was a stronger and stronger pull to get up from the bed and do something else. It was becoming painful to remain sitting. The boredom didn't seem so innocent anymore as it started to demand that this be stopped and something else be done....anything! do anything! just not this! Sitting there, alone, I became engulfed in intense agony. It was fear. Terror. The first time this happened I could not stay with it....I ran from my bedroom as fast as my legs could carry me and did something else. I have had a stranger walk up and place a gun to my head, and there was far less fear then, than at times sitting alone, looking within.

  What is this about? Simple, the character of "me" and all it tightly holds as true and real is threatened. Self-preservation mechanisms kick in. For me, such events made it clear that there was far more to be seen. What would remain when everything that was believed and molded into a character of "me", was seen through?

  Perhaps one has to be a little nuts to move forward. Certainly helpful is an intense desire to know what is real and true, at any price.

  j
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  39

  Discover ME(hippie art)

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been drawing again.

  i dont have a scanner but this is what i am doing.

  i have gotten lots of compliments on them.

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  JamesThomas

  Hey paisley girl. Nice work.

  Have you ever transferred your wonderful art work into pottery or wall paintings? Something you could perhaps make a buck or two on?

  j
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  110

  A PUZZLING QUESTION...????...????...????

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the "sacred secret" of god that creation was yearing to glimpse for so long was jehovah's plan of salvation and righteous government rescue operation.. yet, pagans, heathens and various crackpot primitives all came up with the same plan long before jehovah's was "revealed".

  something smells bad about this!!.

  i find it puzzling.. child sacrifice to appease wrathful deities is a disgusting solution to crop failure.

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  JamesThomas

  Awake&Watching:

  I really look forward to seeing the other posts. Very thought provoking,

  Such sentiments are what Terry's stimulating and compelling posts often motivate within people.

  He often has a subtle, yet effective way of smacking us upside the head and awakening us from a harmful path.

  I am one of many who appreciate his presence here.

  j