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Originally Posted by 40oz
I agree with you except where you claim there is an independent reality. You seem to understand that all matter is energy, so what is so hard to swallow the idea that existence is all a construct of the mind? Your mind arranges this energy to make sense of it, to give an identity or label to everything. Without the mind all we are left with is an endless abyss of energy, and energy itself has no mass, depth, color, or any other physical properties.
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Well... energy does not just floats around aimlessly, randomly... its behavior is ordered enough to generate what we call "the laws of physics", as what we call the laws of physics are our perception and interpretation of the order that there is in this flow of the energy.
Also, it flows in such ordered way that it gives rise to awareness, and even consciousness.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 40oz
So independent of the mind, existence is nothing but energy.
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Exactly... and thats what i call the objective reality. The world of energy that exists independently of our awareness.
BTW, i myself think that energy is not the only thing that makes the world, but also information. I think information is the real "essencial substance" of the world, and that even energy contains (or is) information. But it is a highly speculative thought, so i cant give any proof or argument to it, yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 40oz
Enlightenment, at least according to Buddhist and Hindu texts, deals mainly with understanding the emptiness of everything in existence and being able to be in control of your emotions instead of your emotions controlling you. The Bhagavad-Gita says "Nothing of nonbeing comes to be, nor does being cease to exist; the boundry between these two is seen by men who see reality". I believe that being means consciousness. Nonbeing is everything that is not conscious, or the external world. This only exists as far as some being is able to perceive it. Now I can't say I know a lot about enlightenment, but it seems to me that to be enlightened is to truly understand that what is perceived as a reality independent of the mind is an illusion.
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Yes... but i dont think it disagrees with what i think. Energy can exist in the void. Energy is not only a shiny thread of light... a wave carries energy, and it can be dark, invisible, even unpercievable, and yet its there. So i think when the enlightened ones says "reality", they mean what we usually call reality, the physical world made of physical things, which is indeed an illusion, as it is dependent of the mind.
And... there is no need to be enlightened to control ones emotions... its far easier that reach enlightenment. The control of the emotions and behavior is called (in Castanedas books) Controlled Folly, and is a skill that is learned and practiced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 40oz
Your right, our brain isn't the source of our consciousness, it is our mind. The brain is just a machine, it is physical, and physical things only exist if there is a consciousness to perceive them. Independent of the mind, what you consider the physical world is not physical at all, but a large mass of nothing but energy.
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Yes... some people calls it mind, some calls it soul, spirit, whatever... but surely its real, and also non-physical.
Also, i think "energy" is a general term... i think there are several "kinds" of energy... like the "physical" energy in the physical "plane", and also non-physical energies in the non-physical "planes", so our mind, soul or whatever would be made of non-physical energies as well.
(I wonder if my physics teachers heard me talking such things... they would be VERY disappointed...
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