I ambled gently down the mountaintop, transfigured...

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all."

-Ecclesiastes 9:11

Hello ATS,

This is AProphet coming to you direct from the heart on this most somber of Fridays.

I recently returned from a place and saw under the sun that life is not what I once thought it was. From heaven to hell, from the dreamland to the wasteland, from the sublime summits to the shadows in the valleys of death; I've strayed for a time, times, and excesses of unfortunate days.

Upon a ferry in what appeared to be a series of concentric canals in Amsterdam I was taken to the last circle of Hell where I had a conversation with a former Tibetan monk working as a porter in the Red Light District. In an alley he gave me a medicine, performed a meditation as if it was a religious sacrament, then spoke to me in a language I couldn't understand but now am able to recall as a universal symbolic language of the soul. Perhaps it was only a dream... though nothing in my life has ever felt more real.

I returned and the sun hit my face. I cupped my hands in the torrid heat gathering rays of sun and splashed them upon my tired face. Then I saw with new eyes, the prophet's gaze. I felt exhausted, my very flesh was encumbering. And here is what I have learned...

That all life is a futile battle to fill a void of nothingness.
That all righteous endeavors in time prove meaningless.
That God is dead.
That we are animals completely stimulus driven.
That heaven only exists in the mind.
That love is a fallacy.
That friendship is a farce.
That history is the base struggle for power and material possessions.
That Jesus was crucified.
That Buddha was a bum.
That despair is like water.
That hope is a black hole.
And that beauty is a random mathematical expression.

I’m sorry if I have offended anyone, this is just the truth.

Umm... hmmm... not offended, but I would be careful thinking that you found the infallible and absolute truth. It will be much harder to accept your mistakes if you do.

So I shouldn't believe strongly in anything for fear of making a mistake?

No sir, I don't like tiptoeing around the minefield of life. I would rather dive headfirst into the bottomless pit like a real man of action.

Anyway, if we're smart we should learn from our mistakes...

SO what will you do with what you've learned? Where will it take you.

Perhaps now you are looking through eyes not clouded by those possessed in this World. Stripped from you in such a way you now know nothing, that within the nothingless you are born again as an innocent.

I can only speculate where someone would go from here. Can you find any Joy at all? Have you truly lost your Soul?

Perhaps it is time to cry.

reply to post by AProphet1233


It's all a matter of perception. You've found a new way to perceive the paradigms of life, and good for you. But you don't share the same perception as everyone else, so I wouldn't tout this as the final truth of everything.

As Einstein said, without mystery, we're as good as dead.
You can reduce life, using the weapon of explanation, simplification, definition, to a blank point of nothingness, meaninglessness and whatsoever. A Boring standpoint.
So why bother?

Originally posted by AProphet1233
"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all."

-Ecclesiastes 9:11

Hello ATS,

This is AProphet coming to you direct from the heart on this most somber of Fridays.

I recently returned from a place and saw under the sun that life is not what I once thought it was. From heaven to hell, from the dreamland to the wasteland, from the sublime summits to the shadows in the valleys of death; I've strayed for a time, times, and excesses of unfortunate days.

Upon a ferry in what appeared to be a series of concentric canals in Amsterdam I was taken to the last circle of Hell where I had a conversation with a former Tibetan monk working as a porter in the Red Light District. In an alley he gave me a medicine, performed a meditation as if it was a religious sacrament, then spoke to me in a language I couldn't understand but now am able to recall as a universal symbolic language of the soul. Perhaps it was only a dream... though nothing in my life has ever felt more real.

I returned and the sun hit my face. I cupped my hands in the torrid heat gathering rays of sun and splashed them upon my tired face. Then I saw with new eyes, the prophet's gaze. I felt exhausted, my very flesh was encumbering. And here is what I have learned...

That all life is a futile battle to fill a void of nothingness.
That all righteous endeavors in time prove meaningless.
That God is dead.
That we are animals completely stimulus driven.
That heaven only exists in the mind.
That love is a fallacy.
That friendship is a farce.
That history is the base struggle for power and material possessions.
That Jesus was crucified.
That Buddha was a bum.
That despair is like water.
That hope is a black hole.
And that beauty is a random mathematical expression.

I’m sorry if I have offended anyone, this is just the truth.

It's to bad, you see things in such a dismal, narrow minded way.
Even if your part way right, your wrong, the party is just starting and you want to put everyone on a bummer, that's to bad.
Check things out in a few Trillion years, see if things look any better or there are anythings of inteeeeeerest for you, we've only been getting things going for about the last 10,000 years, I mean really rolling.
I'm sure things will be better for you by then, we will most likely bE able to fix most of the things troubling you by then.

IT'LL ALL BE OK

Edit; for had to do sound check

[edit on 20-8-2010 by googolplex]

Originally posted by AProphet1233
So I shouldn't believe strongly in anything for fear of making a mistake?

No sir, I don't like tiptoeing around the minefield of life. I would rather dive headfirst into the bottomless pit like a real man of action.

Anyway, if we're smart we should learn from our mistakes...

I think the point is that believing one has found the absolute truth is a dead end.

One must always be willing to shift ones beliefs as new information comes to light.

I believe it was the Buddhists who said something along the lines of: "the first step on the path to wisdom is to acknowledge that one knows nothing"

reply to post by AProphet1233


I'm sorry man, you look like having a lot of depressive feelings. An spiritual experience like that should make you happier.

God is not dead, maybe your faith is dead.

To Arkady - "SO what will you do with what you've learned? Where will it take you."

I don't know, prophets can't interpret the course of their own lives. I'm not some philistine with a five year plan based around how the markets are looking.

Although lately I've been finding myself in circumstances not of my own will, instead it's like I'm shackled by fate.


To Greensage - "I can only speculate where someone would go from here. Can you find any Joy at all? Have you truly lost your Soul?"

There's no joy for me only an inexplicable sense of duty to a higher process/power.

Have I lost my soul? Maybe... it happens.


To the Captain - "It's all a matter of perception."

True, but one could say we inhabit a world where people live and die according to where these differences of perception meet. It's at these vertices that all the action happens anyway. A world of ideas conflicting and coping with one another...


To Incarnating - "As Einstein said, without mystery, we're as good as dead.
You can reduce life, using the weapon of explanation, simplification, definition, to a blank point of nothingness, meaninglessness and whatsoever. A Boring standpoint.
So why bother?"

You can't deny that everyone experiences hopelessness in life, or the loss of old truths for newer ones during which the interim seems like an abyss. It is not all a conscious scientific exploration or a thought experiment, it's an experience, something one must endure.

Mystery can go either way. I suppose mine is now tending towards the negative arena. Not a fun place to play, wouldn't you agree?

[edit on 20-8-2010 by AProphet1233]

Originally posted by AProphet1233


I’m sorry if I have offended anyone, this is just the truth.

That might be your truth, it sure as heck isn't mine.

What you typed has to be the most depressing thing I have read in a while, so, while I am not offended, I feel very sorry for you.

Tomorrow is another day, and you might change your mind!

Hey remember back in the old days and you were on a bad trip, and you thought you were going be like that for ever and then you were, I'm not joking either.
The Sun was just shining, like sun rays.
I think I 'm going to be this way forelver, it was bad today I was at Lowe's and I was just freaking out, and thought I was going to blast right off the planet, then I came home and red this thread post, now things are almost normal.

I don't know what drug you took but it sounds crazy.

Mybe we shouldn't rely so much on drugs for spiritual experiences.

Originally posted by Blanca Rose

Originally posted by AProphet1233


I’m sorry if I have offended anyone, this is just the truth.

That might be your truth, it sure as heck isn't mine.

What you typed has to be the most depressing thing I have read in a while, so, while I am not offended, I feel very sorry for you.

Tomorrow is another day, and you might change your mind!

Right. Well, the social qualms and spiritual uncertainties in my list above happen to bother a great many people and those that are as depressed as you think I am certainly don't need people like you feeling sorry for them.

Modern life is an unusual beast that we are all scarred by from trying to tame it. I know this least of all from my personal beliefs.

Originally posted by AProphet1233
To Arkady - "SO what will you do with what you've learned? Where will it take you."

I don't know, prophets can't interpret the course of their own lives. I'm not some philistine with a five year plan based around how the markets are looking.

Although lately I've been finding myself in circumstances not of my own will, instead it's like I'm shackled by fate.



There's no joy for me only an inexplicable sense of duty to a higher process/power.



[edit on 20-8-2010 by AProphet1233]

Can't see feel all the things around you, Power, it's not negative it's postive, and forget about the dead thing, your alive live in the now.

To align your self with that higer power, and relize that higher power is within you, the nothing is boring. To balance the yin and the yang, don't pull your self down, pick your self up and fly.

I found that everything is relative ...this is based on that, good based on evil, hell based on heaven, him based on her ......and on and on ..

...all relative, all concepts, labels, ideas......

There is part of you that is aware of the eyes seeing, of the lips moving, of the ears hearing, of the mind thinking, and of the body being.

......so if there is a part of you aware of the body and aware of the mind ...then you can't be the awarer and the subject of awareness. Find out where is this awareness.....

Everything you just said .....all from the mind ...all thoughts from an ego, a thought construct. Who you think you are ....is just a thought, an imagination, an Illusion....

What is ....is Now, without words, without thoughts, without labels, without concepts ......

Originally posted by AProphet1233

Right. Well, the social qualms and spiritual uncertainties in my list above happen to bother a great many people and those that are as depressed as you think I am certainly don't need people like you feeling sorry for them.

Well, that's just peachy! Not only have you figured out life for yourself, and everyone else, but you are able to speak the mind of others! Amazing! I am my own person, and allowed to feel sorry for whom ever I choose to.

Modern life is an unusual beast that we are all scarred by from trying to tame it. I know this least of all from my personal beliefs.

I wear my battle scars proudly. It is not impossible to still get enjoyment out of life, after living it. That's what life is. Ups and downs, scars and mending. Happiness, sadness, tears and joy. The whole darn ball of wax!

AProphet you are not currently equipped to realize the totality of reality

hey that rhymes!!

this is a spot that some of us get in when we seek the truth , and then find out the truth about ourselves

you see we were not looking for the truth about ourselves ,we where looking for truth that would make us superior to non truth knowers

Superhuman wisdom or healing powers some other other boon that would make us different from everyone

and what we find out is we are the same as everyone just as blind just as sinful just as dumb and just as weak

then you will get to the other side of this conundrum and find that you are just like everyone else just as beautiful , just as loving , just as wise and just as worthy

you are not unique many others have traveled this road before you
so when you get to your next stop you will find lots of friends waiting to walk to the next stop with you

uniqueness is lonely being like everyone else is wonderful!
you are only as special as you think others are.

To googol - "Can't see feel all the things around you, Power, it's not negative it's postive, and forget about the dead thing, your alive live in the now."

Thanks for the advice. I do understand the importance of living in the now. I also firmly believe one should enjoy everything transitory and blessed in life down to the smallest denominator. Although, I'm constantly reminded that life's evils are prescient, even more prescient than the good usually. It seems to me that evil prevails as something of an unstoppable force and I'm sure God accepts that aspect of existence, the story of Job from the bible comes to mind.

Maybe some of us are simply cursed?


To dominicus - "Everything you just said .....all from the mind ...all thoughts from an ego, a thought construct. Who you think you are ....is just a thought, an imagination, an Illusion.... "

Agreed, although there is always something destined to invade the calm of meditative mind-states. In certain places this is a more frequent occurrence than in others. In the worst places ego dominates absolutely and I seem to have an unfortunate affinity for such places. I wish I was born in the well-trimmed garden of a Chinese temple in ancient days where I would mature, pray, and sit in silence all day but I wasn't so lucky.


Blanca - "Well, that's just peachy! Not only have you figured out life for yourself, and everyone else, but you are able to speak the mind of others! Amazing! I am my own person, and allowed to feel sorry for whom ever I choose to."

I'm not trying to speak the mind of others, I just know that # happens to people they would rather not have happened to them regardless of their god, background, or inclination towards good or evil. There is a random allotment of sufferings in the world it appears to me...

You assumed I was depressed and in a general abject state of mind so you decided to say you feel sorry for me with a somewhat patronizing attitude like I shouldn't have made myself feel so miserable in such a beautiful world.

Needless to say, your first post was incredibly naive. But here you state you have experienced certain hardships - that is unfortunate though I am glad you made it through, life gives us these, and I won't't speak patronizingly about those experiences.


To mrsblonde - "uniqueness is lonely being like everyone else is wonderful!
you are only as special as you think others are."

I love blondes. I bet your having much fun with life .

As far as everyone being equal... I guess... kinda... I dunno. Everyone suffers surely.

[edit on 20-8-2010 by AProphet1233]