"A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough." -- Ben Franklin
I'm strictly secular, but it should be clear that there are things we can do that will optimize our earthly tenure, e.g. eating intelligently, taking exercise, keeping in a good mental/spiritual attitude, etc. I can't tell you how to do those and no doubt opinions vary, but the wisdom exists for those who seek it.
Finally, even if there is no next world, there IS the present one. Our choices hugely influence the course of our current life, and will leave varying influences, good, bad or indeterminate, after we leave this plane of existence.
In closing, a quip from Seneca: We can walk hand in hand or arm in arm with Fate, or we can be dragged along. The choice is ours.
Josh, you talk about hormesis as a physical challenge. I find that there has to be the mental challenge to motivate that. Also, when the body and mind are clear of accumulated toxins, flexible, resourceful and one knows the fine line between aging, giving into the rocking chair, and choosing Life, each day we stall the end, is food that feeds the wisdom needed to know what we need--bioavailable nutrients of the highest purity. They do exist in the simplest of foods. But one must be proprio-sensitive to them and that means going back to the beginning--fasting from time to time. Thanks for the video.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this important issue.
I believe we keep trying to do better things to live better and longer, but often without a deep goal.
If you come from a fear of death, or fear in general, the outcome will not be optimal.
If, however, you make efforts to sustain a better and longer life, out of a commitment to do good for others, to promote life from a deeper and more compassionate state, you will find that even genes and toxins can be affected positively without any chemical or other intervention.
Your wisdom grows and your life force grows, and without even thinking about it you make better choices.
And of course this is a hard path, a challenging path. And this challenge brings, through hard work, victories that expand your lifespan.
And it also brings happiness and fulfillment, for you are on your personal path of mission.
Yes, aging and so-called death are part of this material existence.
According to so many philosophers and great spiritual teachers, the soul is eternal. AHAM BRAHMASMI - I am a Brahman, a spiritual soul, a spark of life, a child of God.... My existence is already eternal.
With these supplements and lifestyles, as you pointed out, we can simply function a little better - or we can stop or slow down the processes that result from the toxicity of what is used around us - toxic food, toxic drugs, toxic air, toxic water, and so on.
But wise people embrace the wisdom regarding our spiritual, not material eternal existence, and use life for self-realization. This is my take on this topic :)
That's one interpretation of Hindu philosophy. Others clearly state that all this talk of souls and spirits is part of maya and therefore a waste of time, as is clinging to material existence. The individual personality will not survive physical death. Frankly how anyone of any religion can believe this is beyond me.
I didn't say consciousness is merely a brain function. I don't know what it is any more than anyone else. My understanding is that everything experienced is maya, and that includes consciousness. It is temporary, easily alterable and not real in that sense. Just about everyone who insists on some sort of God admits that he is unknowable, which means beyond consciousness of any kind. Does the drop that returns to the ocean retain its "dropness"? The abandonment of every aspect of individual personality is unreal. The idea of a soul traveling through time, itself a very questionable phenomenon, grows from the fear of and refusal of death, imho.
Yes, I agree, they forget. People who have out-of-body experiences continue to think. We remember past lives (some of us), etc. Thus, the brain is not the mind.
Consider that the mind is capable of powerful imaginings that may or may not be supported by material evidence. This is not really evidence of any continuity after the death of one's very tenuous physical receptors, which can suddenly disappear at any moment. Just ask anyone who's experienced vertigo.
Yes, this is why Buddhism and such impersonal philosophies are full of contradictions.
Just such a contradiction is the concept of Boddhisattva. He makes decisions and descends out of compassion to enlighten those who are suffering.... So if he makes these decisions, descends - but I don't exist - my perception of my individual existence is Maya, an illusion - and since he makes these decisions and feels love and compassion (which is from person to person) - then there are only two options:
1. he is obviously in ignorance
or
2.individual existence is a fact.
This is a long topic and difficult to discuss in these few sentences. But in the end, it is a real experience (Brahman realization), but it is not the last word in the process of self-realization, so there are contradictions.
It can be compared to taking a hot shower on a freezing day. It's a wonderful experience, but how long would you stay in the shower? 10 minutes? An hour? Two hours? Eventually you decide to do something else. And when you make that personal choice, decision, desire, there is no room for YOU there, in that impersonal Brahman. So, you may temporarily forget your individual identity, but you will not cease to be an individual being - with will, desires, decisions, love, etc. - all the attributes of a PERSON. But in the spiritual realm these decisions or desires are not material, you don't identify with matter, material desires, but realize your true spiritual SELF.
This is like a green bird flying into a green forest. From a distance it may look like the bird merges into the forest, but when you get closer you see the bird, the trees and all the individual forms and activities.
I see no evidence for these sort of beliefs. The idea of a physical reality vs a spiritual reality is obvious dualism, which is practically the definition of maya. Free will is also highly questionable, from my point of view.
In practical life, we generally have to "act" as if free will is real. Sit back and look at the reasons for actions you take for even a day. Which are not the result of previous conditioning and reaction, cultural or even genetic? This is extremely difficult to disentangle.
And indeed, you have free will. You can desire to know the Absolute Truth; we cannot force anyone to desire it. You can't force someone to love you; you can try to please that person, but you can't force them to love you - that's the difference between an act of love and rape. It's actually a matter of will.
"I see" and "my point of view" points to the person - the opposite of dualism is not impersonalism. In this world there is good and evil (dualisms), in the spiritual dimension everything is absolute, but that is not a denial of individual existence and activity.
Some wise words, none of them mine.
"A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough." -- Ben Franklin
I'm strictly secular, but it should be clear that there are things we can do that will optimize our earthly tenure, e.g. eating intelligently, taking exercise, keeping in a good mental/spiritual attitude, etc. I can't tell you how to do those and no doubt opinions vary, but the wisdom exists for those who seek it.
Finally, even if there is no next world, there IS the present one. Our choices hugely influence the course of our current life, and will leave varying influences, good, bad or indeterminate, after we leave this plane of existence.
In closing, a quip from Seneca: We can walk hand in hand or arm in arm with Fate, or we can be dragged along. The choice is ours.
Josh, you talk about hormesis as a physical challenge. I find that there has to be the mental challenge to motivate that. Also, when the body and mind are clear of accumulated toxins, flexible, resourceful and one knows the fine line between aging, giving into the rocking chair, and choosing Life, each day we stall the end, is food that feeds the wisdom needed to know what we need--bioavailable nutrients of the highest purity. They do exist in the simplest of foods. But one must be proprio-sensitive to them and that means going back to the beginning--fasting from time to time. Thanks for the video.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this important issue.
I believe we keep trying to do better things to live better and longer, but often without a deep goal.
If you come from a fear of death, or fear in general, the outcome will not be optimal.
If, however, you make efforts to sustain a better and longer life, out of a commitment to do good for others, to promote life from a deeper and more compassionate state, you will find that even genes and toxins can be affected positively without any chemical or other intervention.
Your wisdom grows and your life force grows, and without even thinking about it you make better choices.
And of course this is a hard path, a challenging path. And this challenge brings, through hard work, victories that expand your lifespan.
And it also brings happiness and fulfillment, for you are on your personal path of mission.
Yes, aging and so-called death are part of this material existence.
According to so many philosophers and great spiritual teachers, the soul is eternal. AHAM BRAHMASMI - I am a Brahman, a spiritual soul, a spark of life, a child of God.... My existence is already eternal.
With these supplements and lifestyles, as you pointed out, we can simply function a little better - or we can stop or slow down the processes that result from the toxicity of what is used around us - toxic food, toxic drugs, toxic air, toxic water, and so on.
But wise people embrace the wisdom regarding our spiritual, not material eternal existence, and use life for self-realization. This is my take on this topic :)
Thank you
https://outraged.substack.com/p/big-pharmas-biggest-secret
That's one interpretation of Hindu philosophy. Others clearly state that all this talk of souls and spirits is part of maya and therefore a waste of time, as is clinging to material existence. The individual personality will not survive physical death. Frankly how anyone of any religion can believe this is beyond me.
I think the doctrine that consciousness is somehow a function of the brain is just scientists being dogmatic. It may be that consciousness dies with the brain, but I think it more likely that there is a forgetting, as with dreams, between lifetimes. I hinted at this in previous posts. https://mitteldorf.substack.com/p/free-will-and-the-inverse-quantum https://mitteldorf.substack.com/p/every-life-extensionist-should-read
I didn't say consciousness is merely a brain function. I don't know what it is any more than anyone else. My understanding is that everything experienced is maya, and that includes consciousness. It is temporary, easily alterable and not real in that sense. Just about everyone who insists on some sort of God admits that he is unknowable, which means beyond consciousness of any kind. Does the drop that returns to the ocean retain its "dropness"? The abandonment of every aspect of individual personality is unreal. The idea of a soul traveling through time, itself a very questionable phenomenon, grows from the fear of and refusal of death, imho.
We come into this world awash in tears,
Mourning our incipient separation—
And soon we age and leave it, mired in fears,
So loathe to part with individuation.
The waves that crash, the foam atop the seas,
Disguise the ocean, fathomless, profound—
And when that water splinters into me’s,
Myriad ephemeral droplets abound
And frolic in a mist one glorious trice
Fall terror-bound back in the womb, coalescing,
Rejoin the life that once was all they knew...
Perhaps our fear of change provides a clue
Why human arts nor nature’s quite suffice
To sustain us in awareness of our blessing.
Nice poem. Yours?
Yes, I agree, they forget. People who have out-of-body experiences continue to think. We remember past lives (some of us), etc. Thus, the brain is not the mind.
Consider that the mind is capable of powerful imaginings that may or may not be supported by material evidence. This is not really evidence of any continuity after the death of one's very tenuous physical receptors, which can suddenly disappear at any moment. Just ask anyone who's experienced vertigo.
Ask "ANYONE" - and the question is WHO is in the illusion? Who has "experienced" something?
There is nothing to deny the obvious - there is maya, an illusion, but who is in the illusion? Who is experiencing?
Who collects good or bad karma, etc....
Yes, this is why Buddhism and such impersonal philosophies are full of contradictions.
Just such a contradiction is the concept of Boddhisattva. He makes decisions and descends out of compassion to enlighten those who are suffering.... So if he makes these decisions, descends - but I don't exist - my perception of my individual existence is Maya, an illusion - and since he makes these decisions and feels love and compassion (which is from person to person) - then there are only two options:
1. he is obviously in ignorance
or
2.individual existence is a fact.
This is a long topic and difficult to discuss in these few sentences. But in the end, it is a real experience (Brahman realization), but it is not the last word in the process of self-realization, so there are contradictions.
It can be compared to taking a hot shower on a freezing day. It's a wonderful experience, but how long would you stay in the shower? 10 minutes? An hour? Two hours? Eventually you decide to do something else. And when you make that personal choice, decision, desire, there is no room for YOU there, in that impersonal Brahman. So, you may temporarily forget your individual identity, but you will not cease to be an individual being - with will, desires, decisions, love, etc. - all the attributes of a PERSON. But in the spiritual realm these decisions or desires are not material, you don't identify with matter, material desires, but realize your true spiritual SELF.
This is like a green bird flying into a green forest. From a distance it may look like the bird merges into the forest, but when you get closer you see the bird, the trees and all the individual forms and activities.
I see no evidence for these sort of beliefs. The idea of a physical reality vs a spiritual reality is obvious dualism, which is practically the definition of maya. Free will is also highly questionable, from my point of view.
Whoa -- we HAVE TO believe in free will. We have no choice.
(Isaac Bashevis Singer)
In practical life, we generally have to "act" as if free will is real. Sit back and look at the reasons for actions you take for even a day. Which are not the result of previous conditioning and reaction, cultural or even genetic? This is extremely difficult to disentangle.
And indeed, you have free will. You can desire to know the Absolute Truth; we cannot force anyone to desire it. You can't force someone to love you; you can try to please that person, but you can't force them to love you - that's the difference between an act of love and rape. It's actually a matter of will.
So, WHO is "conditioned" - from "previous" conditioning and reactions? WHO experiences KARMA and all this conditioning?
See, this is just a philosophy, full of contradictions.
Yes, YOU can temporarily merge with the ocean of light. But you will never cease to exist.
"I see" and "my point of view" points to the person - the opposite of dualism is not impersonalism. In this world there is good and evil (dualisms), in the spiritual dimension everything is absolute, but that is not a denial of individual existence and activity.
It will never work. Big pharma can't make any money.