Quote: (04-01-2019 03:34 PM)Sherman Wrote:
The East has developed techniques of meditation and yoga that are more advanced than anything in the West. Both the West and the East have developed copious literature on how to live an ethical life, control negative emotions, and confront powerful desires. We can't change death but it is technically feasible to be happy.
^^^ THIS
The most peace I ever experienced was after I listened through one of
Eckhart Tolle's books on CD. I know if I decide to really immerse myself in that school of thought again I will probably be able to get back to that mindspace again. I remember when Roosh briefly flirted with Tao. A while back I was playing through the Kung Fu TV series and it was like a breath of fresh air.
The fact is that conflict is a two-way street. The yin and the yang. The more people here express their frustration/anguish with the way the world is, it's a sign of their attachment, and this attachment is the root of suffering. Even something as simple as hating on SJW entertainment like The Last Jedi, Captain Marvel, etc... is giving power to suffering through this attachment or desire to control. Politics is the very definition of conflict, and that tug of war NEVER ENDS. The internet is really a CONFLICT ENGINE. I mean, think about it. Even here, in a walled garden, you see conflict. God pill vs. Material pill. Conflict is exhausting, especially the hit-below-the-belt way it's expressed online. There's just no way to maintain this sort of conflict. You'll eventually burn out. Nobody ever wins any of these dumpster fires. They're just wars of attrition.
Best to say your piece once, try not to repeat yourself, and move on.
Quote: (04-01-2019 08:24 PM)infowarrior1 Wrote:
...if God exists then the Blue Pill is the bliss of Oblivion whilst the Red Pill is the possibility of Judgment after death which is its own harshness.
That reflects a gambler's take on life, which feels kind of immature. "If daddy finds out I put the hand in the cookie jar, I will be punished. But if daddy left mommy, then I can steal cookies as much a I like!" Where's the remorse? It's just fear of punishment that drives you at that point, otherwise you have nothing internal to limit you. No compassion for others who might want their share of cookies. No ethics for having promised not to take the cookies and broken that promise. Just fear of punishment. If doing the right thing is intrinsically good and something to aspire to it's not necessary to use the threat of punishment as a motivator.
The best way to live life should be one that leads to good outcomes within your own lifetime. The way you can tell if how you're leading your life is working is how happy you are feeling. You know the lyrics of NiN Hurt:
"Everyone I know goes away in the end"
Certain lifestyle choices naturally lead to negative outcomes. Linsay Lohan trainwrecks. Wolf of Wallstreet and Scarface trainwrecks. Rarely do live-hard-and-fast types not die-young. Bad shit tends to accumulate onto people with bad attitudes. Not that bad things don't happen to good people or that crime never pays, but I do strongly believe in the general power of karma despite being effectively an atheist. You go through life building friendships and that pays off ala It's a Wonderful Life. You build enemies and you wind up dead with a knife in your back or at least alone and lonely. Every day you make a deposit of positive or negative energy into the world that has a butterfly-effect on you and everyone else connected to you.
So most religious doctrine (at least the good stuff) is merely stating the above common sense.
Pinocchio is the best cautionary tale when it comes to the above. We start out in life driven by very little other than the pleasure principle. It takes time for us to think more about cause and effect and to be concerned with how others are impacted by our actions. We have to burn our hand in the fire first. And kids think they're immortal and are inherently risk-taking. This is the way the cycle of life goes. Modern life is effectively Pleasure Island as technology allows adults to live an extended adolescence.
It doesn't take religious doctrine to understand these pitfalls of human nature.