
your brain is a city full of independent units that are constantly talking back and forth, buying and selling, living and dying (See HOW THE MIND WORKS by Steven Pinker).
Its internal wiring takes the form of a fractal pyramid that divides into 3 parts
the midbrain is input & is concerned with 'why' we do what we do
Why we fall from paradise (infinite light)The midbrain has many eyes and can raise the alarm when something needs attention
the cerebellum is output & is concerned with 'how' to do what we doThese alarms exert an irresistible all-powerful force upon you but also give us energy
The cerebellum has many hands and can juggle many things at once (but doesnt know "what" it is doing)
the cerebral cortex is CEO & is concerned with 'what' to do
You point at the target and the cerebellum shoots
most information goes straight from input to output bypassing the ceo
most information goes straight from input to output bypassing the ceo
We fall because our brain doesnt have enough hands to do all the things it needs to do (ie. our cerebellum isnt big enough)
Immortality:Our brain is forced to juggle things and inevitably it occasionally drops things (ie. misses the mark)
If our brain had enough hands (large enough cerebellum) to be able to do everything it needs to do without having to juggle things then we would never drop anything and we would be immortal.
Alfred_Boeddeker: The sea wouldn't be deep enough to drown you
Hellfire (the sun) wouldn't be hot enough to fry you
In the future we will expand our cerebellum by connecting our brains to powerful computersHellfire (the sun) wouldn't be hot enough to fry you
Only then will it be possible to return to paradise
“I see God as one act—just loving, like the sun always shining.”
Our ability to accept the truth even when it isnt what we want it to be is what separates us from the animals
I know that I'd be better off if I lost some weight
I dont want that to be true but it is a fact and I have sufficient objectivity to be able to see that
Unfortunately this ability to go against our own feelings also gets us in trouble
If I forbade myself to eat sweets I wouldnt last a week
While trying to get calories out of my system I would be constantly tempted to take them in
This is like a leak in a boat
Sweets would tempt me not because they taste good but rather because they are forbidden
(like the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden)
These "leaks" are the source of all our troubles
The trouble is not that we desire good things but rather that we desire forbidden things for no other reason than because they are forbidden.
In the Buddha's first discourse he identifies craving (tanha) as the cause of suffering (dukkha). He then identifies three objects of craving: the craving for existence; the craving for non-existence and the craving for sense pleasures (kama)
The Buddha then goes on to say:
So one, always mindful, should avoid desires. Letting them go, he will cross over the flood like one who, having bailed out the boat, has reached the far shore
Monks, these two extremes ought not to be practiced...There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low, coarse, the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable Avoiding both these extremes, the Tathagata (Perfect One) has realized the Middle Path;...namely: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration
your brain is a city full of independent units (the triangles below) that are constantly talking back and forth, buying and selling, living and dyingMonks, these two extremes ought not to be practiced...There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low, coarse, the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable Avoiding both these extremes, the Tathagata (Perfect One) has realized the Middle Path;...namely: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration
when you go on a diet and decide to cut your calories you have made a law
But some of the independent units in your brain are a little too independent.
They not only dont follow your laws but even go out of their way to deliberately break them.
Stages of our development:
There is an Adam inside all of us.
In the final stage we become immortalWe are all sons of Adam
If there as a noah inside you
then you are a son of Noah (noahide)
If there is an abraham inside you
then you are a son of Abraham (slaves of God)
If there is a Moses inside you
then you are a son of Moses (judges of God)
If there is a David inside you
then you are a son of David (kings of God)
If there is a Nebuchadnezzar inside you
then you are a son of Nebuchadnezzar (emperor)
If there is a Logos inside you
then you are a son of Christ (christian)
libido is life energy:
it divides into 6 components.
1) curiosity
2) empathy (feminine, motherly)
3) sympathy (brotherly love)
4-6) each of these has a male counterpart making 6 in total
(sex is apparently a seventh)
I like sugar but I'm not overcome with temptation to immediately stuff my face with it regardless of consequences every time I see it.
Thats libibo.
its gentle and well behaved.
temptation is when libido is dammed up and the pressure is building up behind the dam.
eventually you give in to temptation and that is the dam breaking.
Its violent and unhealthy.
Certainly, you should channel and control libido but you arent supposed to dam it up.
the blocking of libido results in a neurosis and the death drive.
The death drive drives you to do things that are unhealthy.
the mind creates a caricature of the death drive and calls it 'sin'.
Death drive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Even after we become immortal, and "missing the mark" is eliminated, the death drive will still exist.
But it will no longer be seen as "sin"
It will just be seen as a disease

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