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life
November 2009 
The Examined Life
Posted on Dec 23rd, 2008
by 
Kevino
Kevino
...there is "no such thing as pure objective observation. Your observation, to be interesting, i.e. to be significant, must be subjective" (Journal, 5/6/54) (From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
The above line quotes an entry in the journal of Henry David Thoreau, an American naturalist and philosopher. It has significance in that it agrees with findings by a later naturalist and philosopher, though he is less well known by those titles than others. That later personage is Albert Einstein. In his theories of relativity he came to understand that man does not view this life in terms of what other men see. Each person has his or her own viewpoint and it is completely subjective.
This is a very spiritual point of view. In order to understand oneself one understands first who one is then sees one's place in this ongoing operation called the universe. Those two items constitute spiritual growth. To reach understanding one examines life as it happens. Or, call it experience or understanding or any word that means to you, knowing what is going on as it is happening. This does not mean you know why it is happening. You know that it is happening. Others cannot know your path any more than you can know theirs. Your see your own way through life.
There are two ways to live. One can play the game or one can understand the game while playing. The vast majority on earth at present play the game. There is nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all because every person has the right to do what he or she damn well pleases.
But to understand the game is to begin to see how the cogs and pulleys and metronomes work to create what one considers reality. It is not always a happy and comforting road, because by nature it is blind. One does not see the next step. One cannot see it or even force one's sight. One can only see what is happening and do what seems best to keep the path clear. And, be willing to understand what one did not understand before it came into view.
The setup for this system is understandable, by looking at the general progression of spirtis in this universe through its history. Your individual path is up to you. The thing to know is there is a path. How you approach it is absolutely and only your choice.
Have fun!
The above line quotes an entry in the journal of Henry David Thoreau, an American naturalist and philosopher. It has significance in that it agrees with findings by a later naturalist and philosopher, though he is less well known by those titles than others. That later personage is Albert Einstein. In his theories of relativity he came to understand that man does not view this life in terms of what other men see. Each person has his or her own viewpoint and it is completely subjective.
This is a very spiritual point of view. In order to understand oneself one understands first who one is then sees one's place in this ongoing operation called the universe. Those two items constitute spiritual growth. To reach understanding one examines life as it happens. Or, call it experience or understanding or any word that means to you, knowing what is going on as it is happening. This does not mean you know why it is happening. You know that it is happening. Others cannot know your path any more than you can know theirs. Your see your own way through life.
There are two ways to live. One can play the game or one can understand the game while playing. The vast majority on earth at present play the game. There is nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all because every person has the right to do what he or she damn well pleases.
But to understand the game is to begin to see how the cogs and pulleys and metronomes work to create what one considers reality. It is not always a happy and comforting road, because by nature it is blind. One does not see the next step. One cannot see it or even force one's sight. One can only see what is happening and do what seems best to keep the path clear. And, be willing to understand what one did not understand before it came into view.
The setup for this system is understandable, by looking at the general progression of spirtis in this universe through its history. Your individual path is up to you. The thing to know is there is a path. How you approach it is absolutely and only your choice.
Have fun!
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you talk of subjectivity, each person experiences life different from the person sitting next to him. sometimes i think of reality as a shared hallucination. on more then one occasion i have felt like i or everyone around me is a robot. no one can prove his existence on any level other than physical. i remember asking my friends when i was very little if they were robots or if this was so sort of stage in which i forgot my lines.
then i think of this almighty human race that spans the globe. we say we are so powerful creating machines and fire. we are the only animals who have learned to control fire. yet we are still born ignorant. everything we know we’ve learned from experience. and one shared experience may lead two individuals down different paths. the important part is that you actively choose your own path. no one can live life for you or in your place.
as far as do you understand this world or are you just living in it- both are completely fine. however i will say that living in a constant state of wonder without asking questions will lead you down a path of repeated mistakes and confusion. asking questions and either finding answers or creating answers while knowing that there might not be an answer, is the state of wonder i strive to live in. it’s the way i continue to perceive the world in a state of wonderment and happiness
I understand the difficulty of actually believing that there is somehow a higher level of Truth, which should be the standard for our own interpretations of reality; and, yet, I find that I must believe that how my eyes see the world, or rather, how any person sees and experiences reality, remains the highest authority for existance. Subjectivityseems to imply this - that ALL things are relative to feeling and experience and ALL things will differ for each person based on psychoanalysis, nature and nuture. Though I am not implying or trying to project that you believe this yourself, Kevin, I am just processing through the idea of relativism as it is taught pragmatically in most school rooms. I think that this is wrong, and as many brilliant scholars have agreed, such as C.S. Lewis for one, there must be a Natural Law which governs our universe - a law that is not predicted by human understanding or experience, that transcends human knowledge and has always existed. This I feel is a neccessary truth which must be accepted if we are to live in a civilized society. There there be no natural law, then there is also no basis for legitimate government and the regulations which we place upon ourselves and others; such as, the rights granted us by the Ammendments to the constitution, or that laws that protect us from burglary and murder. If ALL THINGS are truly relative to feeling and experience, then if my experience dictates that murder is my best option, I have no reason to hesitate, but must commit murder. If my experience currently dictates that I have no food, then the natural course is to steal what I have need of. YOu see, relativism can be a very dangerous manifestation of human thought and selfishness. Many choose to accept the terms of relativism based on a desire to do as they “damn well please”, as you so well have stated. We should be careful about how we proceed if we actually “believe” that relativism is “truth” - for this in and of itself is an objective statement of fact which cannot exist within a relativistic worl view. Thanks! What do you think?
Hi Harmony,
Thanks to you and Stephanie for your views. I have mine,of how things are set up in this place. None of your ideas upset the applecart as I have presented it. However everyone has an absolute right to their own opinion.
I wish you the very very best.
Kevino
Wow… tons of potential directions for comment here. So, first, it is societal standards that hold us to the regulations of no theft, no murder. We actually truly have those options under the guise of Eternal law, and the ramifications come under human law. Interestingly, the Eternal judgment seems to be more something of “are we listening” to our guidance and following through rather than indoctinated right and wrong. Hey, just a thought. I’m actually a “really pristine person” by human standards, but I see that Hitler may have been enlightened himself… so that should keep some people puzzling for a while.
When the topic of animals arose, I remembered a very clear “insight” that came to me one day. Animals are BEing, doing exactly as guided by the higher consciousness. Humans have to strive for that. Interesting. It turns the pyramid over in a lot of ways… explains the biblical comment of “be as a child”. We will open to the vastness if that’s our call.
And to tie it to Kevino’s blog (OMG, imagine tying to the blog), we are the blind holding a segment of an elephant. I may have the tail, you may have the trunk. No matter how we slice and dice this existence, it will not be from the same perspectives. That would be futile anyway. Somehow, no matter who you are or what your position, somehow it seems that being Infinitely unique is a huge part of either playing the game or knowing how the game is played… so you can reach out and feel around for other parts of the elephant, or just enjoy the intricacy of the part you hold… and it all comes back to exactly what Kevino said, choice. We have that choice.
Another day, another argument… is the choice already slated? There is free will, there is no free will… It doesn’t matter.
hmmmmm…..leads me to yet another of those whack questions, once read of Michele’s take on this matter. Which is: then, do animals have souls? If you’re biblical in the Christian facet, what seperated us humans from that of the animals was the taking of the fruit from the tree of knowledge, thus bringing about an independence from GOD’S Ways, ours then BEcoming our OWN ways, our OWN choices. But, then again….this is all from JUSt michele’s comments here. As for both Kevinos as well as Harmony’s viewpoints….i, for the time BEing, stay without ANY side here. I read thru both yesterday, ponered each a bit, but had no real urge to add my own comments at that time, as i still have nothing valid to offer there.
AND…Before i start getting PETA shit shot my way here….perhaps i mis-spoke of animals not having a soul. I shall have to rethink that one. Yeah, i coulda’ just deleted my response, but that is just TOO damn convenient. HEY! I fuck up with the best of ‘em.’ Sorry ‘bout that, folks!
Well, we’ve sorta taken this thing far from it’s first orientation… but for the record… this is what I think. Scientifically, plants scream on sensors when others near them are killed. Energy is sensed and exuded by all sorts of inanimates too… how ‘bout a volcano? So really, the question, Rich, is what is a soul? Individuality that continues into whatever comes when we die?
I think everything continues and never ends in one way or another, so there ya go. Whether the individuality of anything is maintained after it’s reformation from this planetary formis still unclear to me. It doesn’t matter in so many ways, especially in Oneness, in All. I think, hmm, I think this means I’m “going to hell”… but then, lucky for me, I don’t believe in one!
Wow, thanks for all the interest.
From the model point of view (www.themodeloftheuniverse.com) God is everywhere in this universe. The only difference is viewpoint, in other words, where in the universe one is viewing from.
The universe is a giant virtual reality game. It has portholes and one can look through them. You are God looking through a porthole. There are quadrillions of “other” God doing the same thing. This is, obviously, divided attention of God. Over time one’s porthole gets dirty. Spiritual growth is Windexing the porthole so one sees clearly, then gaining the ability to look through other portholes.
Everything in the universe is endowed with God within the limits of that physical viewoint to communicate with the universe. For example a rock has limited viewpoint, which is not much fun. (Fun, by the way, is entirely found in communicating. The more and better communication, the more fun, or interest.) To be a cat is more fun but one still can’t communicate at a very high level. A human can communicate better still. But a viewpoint without a body is able to communicate with more resonance. Movement into bodies is a novelty, but because of the nature of viewpoint can be a bit of a mousetrap.
Ah, back to animals.
now thats the way to say it
to windex your porthole is spiritual growth
but there should be no glass panel between portholes b/c as everything is perspective, perspective can be influenced.
ideas travel back and forth thru friends, who in return tell all of their friends so the universe becomes a sponge, soaking up information from the next guy.
I think our perception, at least in part, is like our own personal one-sided mirror. We look through it, at the others, and it’s a little murky maybe, but not too bad. People on the other side can see themselves by looking toward you. The only way they really see you, though, is if you let them in, behind the glass. People come in and out of your view, on both sides, and that is all you can see. Like the investigator, you can invite people into the room on the other side of the glass as well, for examination. They don’t need to know you’re doing it. You’re just looking. Some will even just wonder in and take a nap, or get comfy and read. Some will be practicing for a speech later, and some will be grooming their animals. And the random dog runs in, with or without an owner chasing after. You add a few plants, watch them as they grow. Maybe. I just thought of it. Any comments?
I like the one sided mirror idea. Anything is possible. My bailiwick has been the nature of spiritual growth and the basicsetup of this place. However that leaves about a quadrillion zillion more things to know.
I like poetic approaches. Thank you for the nice comments about my stuff! Feel free to use it so long, of course, as it is credited.