Philosophical Speculations

Not sure if "here" referred to this thread or this forum. There's another thread called 'more-less mathematics' on the front page, but perhaps the formal section would be best, if this forum is OK. Well, I must concede that much of this math stuff is out of my league, and I'm not always c...

I'd enjoy pursuing this, but it'd be off-topic here. Maybe, maybe not. The mod is pretty cool. :) [/i] If Simon had wanted to keep this thread strictly 'on topic', and not digressing into tangential themes, as just about every topic seems to do in this section, I assume he would have posted it in t...

This is a useful quote. It gives the word 'God' as an option, but not in a sense that implies monotheism. I'd concede that this a subtle issue and that the word 'God ' is often a useful one, but it may also often be dangerously misleading. [/i] I would tend to agree if monotheism is referring to a ...

Sorry to butt in, but I would point out that there is no such thing as 'non-dual monotheism', or not unless you call Brahman, Consciousness or Reality 'God', which would be unorthodox. I suppose it depends on what is meant by Brahman ... Paul Deussen states that the concept of Brahman in the Upanis...

I'm reminded here of trying to find others to relate to in a deeply meaningful way far back in the pre-internet days, with the best option being to make the 90 minute trip from Bowen Island BC into the 'bohemian' neighborhood of Vancouver west, every couple of months or so, where the only bookstore ...

And it strikes me as clearly evident, in the conversations I listen to by those who feel impelled to seek out others with whom to relate in this deep way, in watching how they passionately interrelate, is how much they truly love meeting and having such conversations, and thus are evermore imperativ...

I've long since given up any illusions of trying to have these kind of conversations with those who just are not ripe for it, since as you've already surmised, one might as well be talking to a wall. However, I've also discovered countless folks, many of them very young still, increasingly and eager...

So the question becomes to what extent "prior experiences of transcendent consciousness and acquaintance with the literature" actually creating or defining the experience vs understanding what is inherent in the experience itself. [/i] Jim ... Valid question, and to be clear, as BK also p...

I won't address the 'what's the benefit' because I don't think this is the core issue. To make it more closer to home I can ask what's the benefit to call your wife by name if at the fundamental level it's all one? [/i] Well, my wife, bless her heart, isn't what I had in mind when referring to a se...

To go beyond the anecdotal accounts of participants here, some of the best trip reports I've come across are recounted in the book The Toad and the Jaguar , with an excerpt detailing Stan Grof's experimentation with 5-Me0-dmt ~ he surely being one of the most extensive and incisive investigators of ...