Has Anyone Ever Tried...

[IanForbes]

No, that WASN'T too serious an answer, Tywais. It was a dam_n good one. I was fortunate to be living in Canada at the time of the Vietnam war or I surely would have been sent there unwillingly to kill people I didn't even know for a reason nobody has yet to explain in a rational manner. All near death experiences have some affect on our psyche. I have been close to death many times and still have the physical scars to show for it. It gives one a new appreciation of living.

And there can be a BIG difference between living and just being alive. Nobody on their death bed wishes they had spent a few more hours in the office making money. However, they do remember all the great loves of their life and all the marvelous experiences... both good and bad. The scary experiences are the ones we remember the most vividly. We might not want to repeat them, but we are glad we lived through them once.

[eek]

Not too serious Tywais. I've had some personal events in my life i wouldnt wish on anyone, but cannot imagine the horrors of war (as well as the domino effect of it, and aftermath). Thank you for sharing that.

...

I took a philosophy course in Classical and Contemporary Metaphysics decades ago which focuses on that subject (living aka being) extensively. Now, 35 years later my first chance to apply it and I get chided.

Oh heck..is there a guilty/shamed-face smiley?.... (<-- that one has to suffice).

[Rasseru]

Probably too serious an answer for the CM forum.

I am confident that is not the case. People here are capable of mocking anything at all, no matter how serious.

[Rasseru]

. . . I have been close to death many times . . .

Nobody on their death bed wishes they had spent a few more hours in the office making money. However, they do remember all the great loves of their life and all the marvelous experiences... both good and bad. . . .

Am I correct in assuming that your knowledge of what people on their deathbeds wish they had done and what they remember comes from your many near-death experiences?

[doppa]

has anyone ever met, or knows of a human, who radically changed their lifestyle due to some form of tragedy, i've never met one, and i dont think i'm the type who would, having said that 7yrs ago, i left blighty for thailand, not long after my ex wife died.

[WaiWai]

has anyone ever met, or knows of a human, who radically changed their lifestyle due to some form of tragedy, i've never met one, and i dont think i'm the type who would, having said that 7yrs ago, i left blighty for thailand, not long after my ex wife died.

Good point, doppa. You will often hear people say they have, though.

I can think of some examples -- a few people who stopped drinking after harming/killing others in car accidents or made reforms to healthier lifestyles after witnessing or experiencing illness/death, for instance.

There's a certain type of personality (a little delusional or prone to denial?) who is prone to major & sudden conversions (sometimes religious/spiritual; of course, sometimes alien abduction is involved), I guess. People in the early, "euphoric" stage of culture shock may claim to have changed profoundly.

On the whole, though, I suspect most of us eventually revert to old habits once shock passes. I'd think it's more likely that we may change gradually, over time.

[orang37]

How do we know we are not dead now ?

How do we know that what we experience as "being alive" is not a dream within some life-form whose complexity is to ours as ours is to a sea-slug ?

These words helped Giordano Bruno get burned at the stake : [speaking of the "closeness" of divinity] "... is within us even more than we are in ourselves."

... to use Blake's immortal words : "How do you know but ev'ry Bird that cuts the airy way, Is an immense world of delight, clos'd by your senses five?"

Is "reality" as Blaise Pascal suggested "a fearful sphere whose center is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere" ?

Is it time for more soy-milk ?

That I can answer the final question with a simple "yes" is exactly the way I can know (not guess) the age of everyone here, including myself.

The answer is : "larval"

best, ~o:37;

[WaiWai]

Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know he was Zhuangzi. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuangzi. But he didn't know if he was Zhuangzi who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi. Between Zhuangzi and a butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things. (2, tr. Burton Watson 1968:49)

Enjoy your soy milk .

[Rasseru]

has anyone ever met, or knows of a human, who radically changed their lifestyle due to some form of tragedy . . .

I know a guy who stopped racing motorcycles after he was killed in a race. For that matter, I stopped racing them myself after a racing accident that resulted in my total loss of short-term memory for more than a week. I understand that a loss of short-term memory is not a tragedy as such, and that it can even have certain benefits.

[doppa]

has anyone ever met, or knows of a human, who radically changed their lifestyle due to some form of tragedy, i've never met one, and i dont think i'm the type who would, having said that 7yrs ago, i left blighty for thailand, not long after my ex wife died.

Good point, doppa. You will often hear people say they have, though.

I can think of some examples -- a few people who stopped drinking after harming/killing others in car accidents or made reforms to healthier lifestyles after witnessing or experiencing illness/death, for instance.

There's a certain type of personality (a little delusional or prone to denial?) who is prone to major & sudden conversions (sometimes religious/spiritual; of course, sometimes alien abduction is involved), I guess. People in the early, "euphoric" stage of culture shock may claim to have changed profoundly.

On the whole, though, I suspect most of us eventually revert to old habits once shock passes. I'd think it's more likely that we may change gradually, over time.

sorry, but one thing is for sure, time, no one knows how much you have.

[doppa]

just to divert this slightly, if you could would you want to know when your times up, you'd never know anyone elses, just yours, bit spooky.

[IanForbes]

Am I correct in assuming that your knowledge of what people on their deathbeds wish they had done and what they remember comes from your many near-death experiences?

No, it's from talking with a lot of friends dying of cancer or other ailments. That is one problem with living into your sixties, a lot of your friends die every year or are close to dying. For about the past 10 years, every time I return to Canada from Thailand a few more of my friends have either died or are very close to doing so. I usually go to visit them in the hospital and have a farewell chat. I usually try to keep it positive and talk about the great times we had in the past, but that's not always possible with people with tubes stuck in their various orifices.

[Rasseru]

just to divert this slightly, if you could would you want to know when your times up, you'd never know anyone elses, just yours, bit spooky.

Yes, I would like to know a couple of months in advance.

[Rasseru]

has anyone ever met, or knows of a human, who radically changed their lifestyle due to some form of tragedy . . .

Yes, I know many people, of both sexes, who radically changed their lifestyles after getting married and having children.

[doppa]

just to divert this slightly, if you could would you want to know when your times up, you'd never know anyone elses, just yours, bit spooky.

Yes, I would like to know a couple of months in advance.

not quite what i meant, but i guess you have a point, if i knew that in 3months my time was up, i'd go absolutely crazy, i'd cram into those 3 months, everything i should have crammed into my life, which in reality thats what i should be doing now.

[Rasseru]

. . . if i knew that in 3months my time was up, i'd go absolutely crazy, i'd cram into those 3 months, everything i should have crammed into my life, which in reality thats what i should be doing now.

No cramming, but I'm doing now exactly what I want to be doing. I recommend it. To some extent, I expect I will regret dying, since I like living so much, but I won't regret it because there was something I didn't do.

[Rasseru]

No, it's from talking with a lot of friends dying of cancer or other ailments.

Good sources, then.

[IanForbes]

not quite what i meant, but i guess you have a point, if i knew that in 3months my time was up, i'd go absolutely crazy, i'd cram into those 3 months, everything i should have crammed into my life, which in reality thats what i should be doing now.

Good point, that is ALWAYS what we should be doing now. It all depends on what goals you set out for your life. I know I would like a little time to set my affairs in order so it wouldn't be a burden on my children. The trouble is that I procrastinate too much even though I still live a full life.

[WaiWai]

not quite what i meant, but i guess you have a point, if i knew that in 3months my time was up, i'd go absolutely crazy, i'd cram into those 3 months, everything i should have crammed into my life, which in reality thats what i should be doing now.

Good point, that is ALWAYS what we should be doing now.

Many of us are too human to manage to do so, though . And, well, "life" gets in the way ...

I'd like a few months' warning of death, certainly ... especially if pain was impending, as I'd take steps to avoid that.

So far as I know, the general thinking in Thailand is for doctors/family not to forewarn the patient, so one might have to be explicit about one's wishes.

[meadish_sweetball]

"what is being aware of being alive ?"

I believe Descartes answered that ages ago.

I , therefore I am.