Thursday, October 27, 2005
"We eventually have to accept responsibility for our choices, decisions, and their consequences. Every act, thought, and choice adds to a permanent mosaic; our decisions ripple through the universe of consciousness to affect the lives of all. Every act or decision made that supports life supports all life, including one's own. The ripples we create return to us. What previously may have seemed to be a metaphysical statement is now established as scientific fact." (from Truth vs. Falsehood again, I think) Yes, apparently there are experiments that have proven many things thought to have existed to spiritual-type persons. I should probably look into them myself...
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6 comments:
it sounds lovely when you put it like that. evetything is interconencted so one positive action affects the entire universe - however if so, we are powerless to make those kinds of decisions, for obviously our will is compromised by an inextricable web of cause and effect. we are in that sense not the creators, only the vehicles of emotion. so... i just wonder what practical application you suppose this theory to have.
freedom of choice is the only real freedom a person has or can have. in a sense what you said is true, that we are all at the mercy of a huge web of cause and effect that determines our life situation or circumstances (i.e. you don't really choose the family you're born into, whether you experience sickness or good fortune, a tragic accident, etc., etc.). however, at any given moment a person is free to choose not what happens to them, but how they react and perceive what happens to them.
it is possible to be joyous and loving of life even in the most dire circumstances. it is also possible to be unhappy and negative in what appear to be the "luckiest" of lives. freedom is knowing that what happens to you has no bearing on whether you can be happy or not. you yourself choose to be a victim of something, to be happy or sad or angry or jealous, etc., etc., etc.
here's a practical application: let's say you get mugged on the street, the guy beats you up and steals your money. you have a choice here--you can look at that person with anger, pity yourself as an innocent victim, and carry around a grudge and a feeling you got screwed and a desire for revenge.
or, you can forgive that person for being who they are, knowing that you are not better or worse than them, and hope they eventually figure out what life is really about. you can accept that it was unfortunate what happened to you, but instead of looking at it as a tragedy you can view it as an opportunity to be thankful just for being alive, and a chance for spiritual growth.
the first option only adds to the negativity of life. hate begets hate. the second choice will ripple out and uplift all life, and you will find yourself a happier and more fortunate person.
this applies to any situation or context in your life, whether someone cheats on you, steals from you, whether you don't get a job you wanted, etc., etc., etc.
you choose how you be in the world. that is why you are free.
i think that considering that a choice might be made may give one the feeling of freedom, yes, but i don't think it's necessarily true.
in this practical example, let's consider this person who decides there is a choice as to their reaction. obviously whichever option, whether it is to feel vengeance or forgiveness, will be chosen because it seems the best option to the person at the time. you state that the latter will always be the best, but of course it depends on previous experience as to your weighing up of the two. if a person has been taught that vengeance will give them a sense of satisfaction, then that is what they will choose, and is thus in a sense predetermined.
you even suggest that a person's character is constructed of their influence: "you can forgive that person for being who they are, knowing that you are not better or worse than them, and hope they eventually figure out what life is really about."
furthermore, this perpetrator being told about the positive ripples of the universe is simply more conditioning. the choices they make in the future, if successfully convinced that compassion will grant them a better life, will be predetermined as a result of influence. there always must be positive and negative forces, for they are defined by the very presence of the other. to think everything will be magical if we smile at people is a little too black and white - the only thing that can be done is for each of us to live life as how we believe it will be best, because it's quite impossible to do otherwise, isn't it?
I don't necessarily believe all the things there, I just thought they could be food for thought, and that they apparently were, which is good.
I'm not really sure about the whole free choice thing considering we are defined by what is and what has come before.
and as for the whole smile thing, for one thing it is just a sort of example to which the point is certainly not limited. It's just a nice concept. I realise that it has taken me all my years of life and everything that has affected that for it to have meaning to me.
Thus, things are how they, and yes we are all just trying to find our ways the best we can.
actually you make a really good point. the _real_ illusion behind everything is that there is even a personal self doing the choosing and acting. in that sense i think you're right, in fact you said exactly what socrates said, that "every man always does what he feels to be in his highest good." as to what choices a person "chooses" at any given time, i think it's all tied up in karma and the level of their perception. i don't think there is really "evil" or "bad" people, there is simply the presence or lack of Love or spiritual insight.
perhaps, perhaps
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