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originally posted by: Out6of9Balance
a reply to: Pachomius
What if they both are right?
origindally posted by: Never Despise
a reply to: Pachomius
Why are some people always bringing up the idea that everything is an illusion, what is the advantage of such an attitude?
It resolves some ontological contradictions associated with the connection between "inner" (self) and "outer" (the non-self) spheres.
In the Yogacara school of analytic Buddhism it serves to heal a kind of schizophrenia caused by the false dualism of "inner" and "outer." The Madhyamaka school also uses this to crack open some ontological problems that are more or less unresolvable otherwise.
It need not be a pessimistic philosophy, or a solipsistic one. However, it can lead to pessimism, defeatism, and nihilism if crudely and superficially applied.
originally posted by: ServantOfTheLamb
a reply to: Pachomius
I would implore you not to think of what follows as an argument, but rather a tool for exploration that I think will take the honest seeker to the feet of Jesus Christ.
The proposition the Christian God exist is what I would call transcendentally necessary. A proposition is transcendentally necessary if and only if it is an essential state of affairs for the understanding of both it's affirmation and it's denial.
Let's start with propositions that aren't about God to see what transcendental necessity is:
Language has meaning.
If language does not have meaning, then the proposition language does not have meaning is meaningless. So to assert that it doesn't have meaning in a meaningful way, would require it to be true that language has meaning. To assert that language does have meaning in a meaningful way also requires that language have meaning. So proposition 1 is transcendentally necessary.
2) There is truth.
In order for the statement, there is no truth to be a reality it would have to be the case that there is no truth. This means it would be true that there is no truth, which is a contradiction. Thus to make sense of the claim there is no truth one must assume that there is truth in reality and that proposition 2 is an example of it. It is also the case that asserting that there is truth assumes that truth is a property of reality. Therefore proposition 2 is transcendentally necessary.
3) Human cognition is basically reliable.
To make sense of the statement our cognition is not basically reliable we must assume that it is a reality that our cognition is a reliable, and the same is true for it's affirmation. This means we have again found that proposition 3 has transcendental necessity.
So above I've shown you three propositions that are similar in that they all must be true of reality for their truth is necessary for understanding both their affirmation and their denial.
The next thing I would draw your attention to is that all three of these propositions rely upon the truth of the other two. If language doesn't have meaning, then neither proposition 2 or 3 are meaningful assertions. If there is no truth, then neither proposition 1 or 3 can be true. If human cognition isn't basically reliable, then it cannot be justified as a reliable tool for accessing the truth of either proposition 1 or proposition 2. These are not the only propositions that have transcendental necessity. There are many, and none of them stand on their own devoid an existential context where there others are also realities. This points to the existence of something that connects and relates all these propositions which are necessary but not sufficient for grounding our epistemology. So what grounds the existence of these things as realities? The Materialist says it's spacetime, matter and energy. The Hindu says it is Brahman. The Taoist, the Tao. The Muslim, Allah. The Neoplatonist grounds it in an impersonal unity. The Christian, in the triune 8God of scripture. What do you say it is?
My suggestion to you is that because we are talking about what connects all these that it to is a proposition that is transcendental and necessary, because of this when your view of reality is wrong the thing you place your faith in to connect these things will crumble.
originally posted by: violet
a reply to: Pachomius
No idea if He exists or not, but who were his parents? Who begot them and so on. Chicken/Egg.
originally posted by: Itisnowagain
a reply to: neutronflux
Am I speaking to an abused or sexually exploited child?
originally posted by: Itisnowagain
a reply to: Never Despise
You are something the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is something that the whole ocean is doing.
Alan Watts – The Real You | Genius
genius.com...
originally posted by: Itisnowagain
a reply to: Never Despise
You are something the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is something that the whole ocean is doing.
Alan Watts – The Real You | Genius
genius.com...
originally posted by: Itisnowagain
a reply to: neutronflux
Be full of things that are not happening and there is suffering.
Be full of what is and here is peace.