Philosophical Speculations

Materialist science seeks understanding by means of the senses, and by means of reason. The Mystic seeks understanding without science, but instead by direct experience, direct contact one might say, with reality. Idealists make somewhat of a hybrid. We disdain physicalism, while holding on to reaso...

I have not seen it, but you have piqued my interest.
Thanks.
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Simon wrote: The realm of consciousness as seen properly IS spiritual, it IS sacred, but it is not god. If you think consciousness is absolutely fundamental, this will make no sense. But what Robert is saying is my understanding too. In neoplatonic terms, consciousness is still emanation, it flows f...

Eugene wrote Right, but how do you know that such Divine mystery as "nothing" even exists at all? May be it's just your fantasy? I think the biggest Divine mystery is that Consciousness exists. The existence of Consciousness is definitely not a fantasy - we are all conscious so we know it ...

While I disagree with your model of reality (but then, who am I to do so?), I would think that if this "god-like" super-consciousness decided to create a forest and go into it, it must have a very good reason to do so (other than boredom, as you seem to agree). It would then behoove us to ...

Eugene wrote: what is and where is that "nothing"/void out which the Divine creates? We cannot conceive of nothingness (the void, the darkness). I think it is unintentional hubris to assume that we must be able to understand such things. Divine mysteries are not to be solved, but to be sav...

Ashvin wrote: There is no point striving towards a Source which simply cannot be experienced. What we can experience is a relationship with the Divine Creator, with the Saviour. This "fellowship with God," is what Jesus was sent to re-establish, after it was broken by sin. Far from leading...

I regard the debate between monism and dualism as misbegotten I am curious about the bolded statement. Why do you think it is misbegotten? The monist / dualist debate seems to be an either / or, binary outcome dispute. I don't see it that way. To say that consciousness is all there is, and that the...

Consciousness: Intention and Purpose I am certainly not the first to have noticed the connection between consciousness, intention and purpose, but the importance of the linkage is under-emphasized in much of Idealist literature. I have previously written much about the hierarchy of life, consciousne...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OpoWJbo7oM In another post, I offered the video of the octopus nervous system being decentralized. This forces us to consider whether exo-planetary life forms might be so radically different from us, especially different from our brains, that we might find communicat...