http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/consciousness.
vedanta.
according to vedanta, awareness is not a product of physical processes and can be considered under four aspects.
There are countless beliefs surrounding this question. But beliefs are just that...beliefs or conceptual ideas that leave us void of a real satisfying conclusion.
Perhaps the genuine answer can be found only when we look deeply and silently at our own sense of consciousness until the question dissolves.
while the number of jw's reported every year is still growing, it doesn't seem to really be growing as fast as they once did.. do you think that they will eventually level off and then decline?
some of this was based on the stats on this page i was reading: http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php granted, statistics can be presented in whatever light the author is trying to represent (look at the way the jw's massage their statistics to always be favorable).. of particular interest was their deductive math to find the number of people leaving yearly, which is pretty considerable.. a popular pew research study that lots of you probably heard about a couple years ago stated that jw's have the lowest family retention rate of any other mainstream religion.. combine the aging jw populace, the number of people leaving every year, the slowing growth rate numbers, the mindset held by many to "not have children in this system", the children that are had are only staying jw's roughly 1/3rd of the time according to statistics, the end never coming... add 20, 30 years?
could the jw's actually, for all intents and purposes, die out?.
I feel that dozy laid it out extremely well. It may be slowing, but there is a huge amount of momentum behind the JW juggernaut.
i am in a spiritual void at the moment after a year out of the borg and 50 years in.. i'd like to hear 'brief' evidence for the existance or non existance of god/s without an argument between members here.. i'd like to get fresh view points as mine is now so critical it's telling me to be an agnostic or atheist.
why?
i am in want of evidence, not just words from a copy/paste troll & no links.. i just want to open up to new possibilities but with evidence to support it not just 'faith'..
Seeking for "God", or truth outside ourselves generally drops us in an endless and confusing whirl-pool of concepts and belief systems. May I suggest that it may be more fruitful in regards genuine discovery to turn our gaze from out-there to within.
If it is truth we seek after all, then what is the truth of our own being when washed clean of all that we imagine or believe our self to be? Perhaps this will answer questions that before we mistakenly directed outside of us.
this guy is known for his youtube rants about this and that.. he is strictly "street".
he uses what use to be called "common sense" in very "keepin' it real" language.. .
listen to his rant on the budget crisis, debt, borrowing and obamba and see if you don't cheer at the end.. .
Thanks Terry. That was way cool.....I mean hot....oh fuck, never mind.
separating your job from your ego is difficult but crucial for stress management.. letting go of your expectations can put stress into perspective, even when you are the victim of other people's expectations (which you can't control).. learning to go with the flow rather than resist what you have to do can help you be more productive and enjoy your work more.. take care of yourself and pay attention to your own needs for less stress and better job performance.. you don't have to choose between your job and your life.
both will be more enjoyable and productive if they are balanced..
"Too often people let their Job define who they are..". Perhaps it doesn't stop there. Identity is generally a patchwork of thousands of phenomenal things including thoughts and emotions. Is this what we truly are? What so intimately sees and feels all this? Is this which witnesses what we call "our life and being", is it these countless things? Or is there an unspeakable purity of being that remains untouched that is always whole and pure? Perhaps we can look and see. Perhaps we can awaken to a deeper and far more genuine reality of self than all we have ever believed ourself to be.
there is no doctrine required for kindness.. you can't get it "wrong".
there is no judgement.. there is nothing to memorize when putting your hand out to a suffering person.
the human touch on a fevered brow and the comforting squeeze of the hand is irrefutable.. you don't have to graduate from a seminary to offer a smile and ask somebody how they are---how they really are.. there are no grounds for debate or rebuttal in visiting the ill, the dying, the widowed or the orphaned.. .
Loved your posts, Terry. Your words point to something very beautiful within us all that is not dependent on outer form or condition; and when it sees itself in others, there is a nonjudgmental sweetness in this meeting.
Thank you for your posts.
this has no doubt been covered before and if anyone has any favourite threads on this subject perhaps they could post them here .
what are your best one liners/questions to make jw's think?.
i had a heated conversation with my mum this weekend and apart from mainly going round in circles (as is often the case with brainwashed cult members) one thing made her stop and i could see that she was having major trouble processing the logic.
I'm with you, Sweet Pea.
What greater "evil" is there than the mass murder of men, women and children? Yet, the god of the OT did this over and over again, and threatens to do it again...in the billions.
Most all JW's are far more understanding, compassionate and loving to do such a thing, yet they worship as the "most loving" a creature who would.
Jehovah should be worshiping them...as their love is far greater than seemingly Yahweh could ever comprehend. It's all so crazy and insane.
there's a young man here in new zealand with aspergers syndrome who fell foul of the law in unusual circumstances .
.. the following article sums it up .
it's an interesting story.
I've been diagnosed with having low degrees of Aspergers as well as affected by other mental disorders. My heart goes out to those who suffer severely by it.
i retired in the middle of may.. i know many of you would love to have endless free time on your hands too.. right?.
ummm, well..... i'm use to being very active.
i use to stand on my feet eight hours a day.. at the bookstore i'd have to squat, stoop, stretch, lift, walk.. i had to sort, answer question, make change.
Seriously, perhaps being a hospice worker will satisfy you.
well just what is samadhi?.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/samadhi.
Why wait until after church?
