Sunmaster

What kind of evidence would set your heart at peace?

Fair enough. I hope you don't mean me by "the uninformed on the forum" though.

Funny. Something I would have said. 55 So, you read the book? Can you give us a bit more on how religions started out?

How?

Check this out 😄😂 https://aseannow.com/topic/1316529-why-are-readers-heresointerested-ingod-related-topics/#comment-18612581

One man's trash is another man's treasure. As simple as that. If you had a genuine interest in finding out what makes me and people like me tick, you could have asked us directly in the God thread. Why didn't you? Maybe because you prefer people to confirm your own bias, since 99% of posters here share your same view. And what makes you think that someone interested in spirituality and philosophy is not interested in science also?? The logic behind this escapes me. The God thread is by far not as popular as you think. Yes, it's the longest thread in Thaivisa/AN history, but it's really only a handful of guys (believers, atheists and anything in between) sharing their views on life and themselves.

And that's the reason why you started this thread...

Lol You've seen God? Or do you mean religion? Do you know the difference?

Isn't everyone?

I'm one of the main posters in the "God Thread". Not American. Not religious. In fact, what we talk about has very little to do with religion and all to do with philosophy and life in general. "All these God threads", you say? How many are there? 1? 2? How many bargirl threads are there? 5000? I don't know what you like, but I get bored to death reading about bars, girls, taxes, visa issues. I really don't understand what your issue is with people exchanging opinions on life. Does it bother you?

Not sure if it's the same, but it reminds me of something. The undifferentiated Self, that which is not split into 2, is the eye that cannot see itself. It has to create a mirror so that it can see its own reflection. The reflection is not the same as the eye of course, and comes with all kinds of distortions, but the clearer the mirror is, the clearer the reflection. In this example, we are the mirror thanks to which the Self can see and experience itself. How clear is this mirror of ours? So, while it doesn't make sense for having 2 'All That Is' for the simple reason that it wouldn't be 'All That Is' in the first place, we can say that 'All That Is' must create a version of itself that reflects its image, and one that MUST forget its origin or the game wouldn't work (necessary distortions). I think I remember Seth talking about this too and this is in line with the Vedantic teachings.

I still have some invested, but in another coin. 67BTC.... Lol, yes. I had that dream a couple of weeks ago. In the dream I was so surprised and wondered how the hell they got there. Then of course I woke up to the harsh reality of the usual blank dome. :-(

The 67 model is called the "one year only" model and is one of the most sought after models. It has elements of the previous years and new parts of the subsequent models. Then there are differences between countries. The 67 in the US for example has the simplified (ugly) bumpers and the straight headlights. Mine has the flat headlights. "Sweet eyes" they call them here. "Basil" because it's a cute name and because it sounds good. His full name is Uncle Basil the Bitcoin Bug, because I bought it with the profits I got from crypto.

The dream analogy works well here. When you dream you forget your waking self and take the dream objects as real, including your dream body. And they are (or appear to be), in that context. However, once you wake up from that dream, you realise that those buildings don't exist in the waking world. In the dream you had long hair, but in the waking world you are bald. There is a difference. The same goes for when we wake from this dream that we call the waking world. What happens here appears to be real while we are here. We accept that what we see, our bodies, the world around us, are real. Waking up from this (waking) dream is called enlightenment. The world around us and our bodies don't disappear, but they are then seen for what they really are: temporary manifestations of the one source, your true identity, the Self. An object is only real if there is a subject that can observe it. Your eyes can see everything but the eyes themselves. Even looking in a mirror will only reveal a reflection of your eyes. That's why the Self can not have another source. If it had another source, then it would be just another object and therefore couldn't be the source. And so you follow the "I" to the point where there is no other object left. Only the subject. This is called self-inquiry.

An excellent explanation indeed. Dualism, as I understand it, is simply the juxtaposition of 2 things. I am here, God is there, as if they were 2 different things. I am here, the world is out there. Everything that splits into a subject and object is dualism. When only the subject remains, that's non-dualism. Through self-inquiry (following the "I" to its root) it becomes evident that in the end there is only the subject, the True Self. For many years I saw Kriya Yoga as the highest form of spiritual teachings. It focuses on meditation and emphasises a loving relationship with God. This is of course a dualistic philosophy. While I really liked this approach, I never took it on 100% because I felt there was something else, but I couldn't put it into words. Then I learned about Advaita Vedanta and was surprised how well and simply it explained that part in me that I had failed to integrate so far. Then the question became, which path should I focus on? Dualistic or Non-dualistic? It took me only a short time to realise that it's not a question of either-or, but that both ways have their place. It's perfectly OK to express your love for God (duality) while at the same time knowing that you and God are essentially the same thing. (Non-duality). PS, the Käfer is a 67 and his name is Basil.

Bloody freeloaders refuse to help...

No worries. I use the downtime to get stuff done, like washing the car, painting the house and rearranging all the furniture.

I resent that statement.

Addendum of morning musings... In the above example, the bedroom is our mind which creates the ego. We call it bedroom and make it as comfortable as possible. We add all kinds of stuff to raise the quality of our life while there. But if you never leave that bedroom, what is it if not a prison? We lie to ourselves by saying "Yes, but I choose to stay here. And look how nice it is. Look at my map! It shows this room and that other room and the garden around the building. I know what it looks like outside. For now I'll stay here though. I have few more books to read about that garden outside." "Yesterday I had a good discussion with the guy who lives in the next bedroom (prison cell). He told me what his map looks like. Oh my...a child could have drawn that. I told him so, but he got upset. I don't know why, after all I was just trying to help him make it better. Oh well, his loss. I bet his bedroom is very messy and he never cleans. Tststs, mine is spotless. I'll take a good nap now." "Outside? Yeah, I know everything about outside. It's right here on my map. I know it because that guy outside told me. Plus I read lots of books about it, of course. So, no need to go for now. If I go now, I might not be able to come back to this lovely room I spent so much time decorating." Or... "Outside? There is no outside! Do you believe in fairytale and Santa too? Haha, ridiculous. Just sit down and worry about that leaking sink you got there." Or... "Ahhh, I wish I could go outside, but my shoes are broken. It might rain outside and I don't have an umbrella. Will it be cold? What if I don't remember my way back?" And finally... "Let's see...according to my map, if I want to go outside I just have to open that door. I thought it was locked, but it was open all along. I'm tired of this place and really excited to see that garden I read so much about. Shoes? Nah, don't need any. Food? There are fruit trees in the garden. Actually, I don't need anything. Let's go!"

Sorry, you said "no beard."...

A better angle...

There you go.

The analogy of the map only goes so far. A better way maybe is to see it as an explanation of the reality around and in you. In time, we try to improve this explanation to the best of our knowledge and capabilities. We stick this map on the walls of our bedroom and we look at it and we are proud of our achievements to make such a beautiful and well thought-out map. Sometimes we will add some parts or remove others. Then the map hangs there, nicely framed along with all the posters of our favourite bands. And so we decorate our room with all the things we like. Of course there's a nice library too. Lots of books about science, religion, philosophy and whatnot. But looking at the beautiful map or reading all the books in the world will not get you out of that room. And that's what it's all about, in my opinion. If the map actually helps you getting out, then great. When you get out you have to leave everything behind to be free, including the map that helped you in the first place. You rightly talk about a destination. Is there one? Yes and no, I would say. Assuming that you believe in something called enlightenment, from our point of view we can say we are here and enlightenment is there. We are not enlightened, yet. In that sense it is a destination. On the other hand, from the perspective of the eternal self, this notion is an illusion. You are already enlightened right now, you are just not aware of it. So, in that sense we can not talk about a destination. See, again 2 seemingly opposing notions that become both true once seen from a bigger perspective.