The Nature of Reality

[Atheist420]

The Universe exists on many levels. Infinite in scope means that not only the perceivable systems of galaxies within solar systems exist, but on a whole other “plane” of existence alternate realities are simultaneously manifest. When we dream, it is the result of a chemical known as DMT, which is continually released in small amounts in our brain. Dreams are in fact the transference of our consciousness—“Soul”, if you prefer—to one of these alternate realities or another.

When we do not dream it is because our consciousness is yet in between two levels of reality. Do not mistake; simply because you do not remember your dreams does not mean that you are not dreaming, it simply means you have not attuned your waking version of reality to accept memories or visions from other planes. You can train yourself to do so by keeping a dream journal, and even begin to participate in lucid dreams with enough practice. In a lucid dream, not only your consciousness but also your functionality is transferred across the planes, and you can often bend things to your will, simply by choosing which version of reality to move forward with. In other words, every conceivable outcome in every scenario, and every unconceivable outcome will inevitably occur on some level of reality. In some dimension, if you will. In a lucid dream, you can choose the path that leads to whichever reality you wish to experience in the context of that dream.
Other chemicals and compounds, some natural, some man made, can have a similar effect of freeing up your consciousness, however, with waking drug induced experiences consciousness is retained in the body, in most cases, and other planes of reality are merely superimposed upon your perception of this reality. Exceptions include such chemicals as DMT and Salvia, which can, at high enough doses, essentially sever your mind from your body and fling it vividly and unforgivingly into unfamiliar dimensions of reality.
Death is simply the final release of your consciousness from your body, however it goes neither to heaven nor hell. Instead, it drifts through the planes until a being is born that you can incarnate. In doing so, the substance of your consciousness must adapt to the new form of life, and little or no memory survives beyond infancy, except in some extremely rare cases. However, you live again. And the cycle continues. Fear of death is simply fear or change—it is adolescent and counterproductive. This is not to say that life should be taken for granted. Each life you lead is a gift, and a lesson. If you fail to learn from life, and fail to take full advantage of experiencing that which is within it in the time you get, then it is merely a waste of time and energy. Discover a passion and pursue it with all of your soul, for that is what shapes your life in this world. That is what leads to true happiness.

 

[heritage36]

This reminds me of plato's theories, which I believe were totally fabricated of his own mind and without any basis.

 

[St_Worm2]

The Universe exists on many levels. Infinite in scope means that not only the perceivable systems of galaxies within solar systems exist, but on a whole other “plane” of existence alternate realities are simultaneously manifest. When we dream, it is the result of a chemical known as DMT, which is continually released in small amounts in our brain. Dreams are in fact the transference of our consciousness—“Soul”, if you prefer—to one of these alternate realities or another.

When we do not dream it is because our consciousness is yet in between two levels of reality. Do not mistake; simply because you do not remember your dreams does not mean that you are not dreaming, it simply means you have not attuned your waking version of reality to accept memories or visions from other planes. You can train yourself to do so by keeping a dream journal, and even begin to participate in lucid dreams with enough practice. In a lucid dream, not only your consciousness but also your functionality is transferred across the planes, and you can often bend things to your will, simply by choosing which version of reality to move forward with. In other words, every conceivable outcome in every scenario, and every unconceivable outcome will inevitably occur on some level of reality. In some dimension, if you will. In a lucid dream, you can choose the path that leads to whichever reality you wish to experience in the context of that dream.
Other chemicals and compounds, some natural, some man made, can have a similar effect of freeing up your consciousness, however, with waking drug induced experiences consciousness is retained in the body, in most cases, and other planes of reality are merely superimposed upon your perception of this reality. Exceptions include such chemicals as DMT and Salvia, which can, at high enough doses, essentially sever your mind from your body and fling it vividly and unforgivingly into unfamiliar dimensions of reality.
Death is simply the final release of your consciousness from your body, however it goes neither to heaven nor hell. Instead, it drifts through the planes until a being is born that you can incarnate. In doing so, the substance of your consciousness must adapt to the new form of life, and little or no memory survives beyond infancy, except in some extremely rare cases. However, you live again. And the cycle continues. Fear of death is simply fear or change—it is adolescent and counterproductive. This is not to say that life should be taken for granted. Each life you lead is a gift, and a lesson. If you fail to learn from life, and fail to take full advantage of experiencing that which is within it in the time you get, then it is merely a waste of time and energy. Discover a passion and pursue it with all of your soul, for that is what shapes your life in this world. That is what leads to true happiness.

OK, interesting thoughts, but why did you post this on a forum dedicated to discussing the Bible?

 

[LBP]

What you have posted is as much of a speculative belief system as any religion, albeit one that stops short of any speculation as to the Ultimate Cause. A belief that physical death is merely the release of one's consciousness into new planes of existence and that one's consciousness eventually reincarnates is pretty far from garden-variety atheism. The belief system that you have outlined seems to involve non-physical realms with consciousness as the ultimate reality, and to find meaning and purpose in life. All of which sounds ... religious. So apart from the fact that you don't speculate as to the Ultimate Cause, it's hard for me to see how this qualifies as atheism. Everything you have said is entirely consistent with a religious perspective. I have a very intelligent friend who is absolutely obsessed with the idea that we exist as virtual creatures in a cosmic computer program that has been infected by a virus bent on destroying it. He is rabidly opposed to Christianity, and it drives him crazy when I point out that EVERYTHING he believes could easily be accommodated into the most rabid fundamentalist, biblical-literalist version of Christianity. Your belief system might not fit into a biblical-literalist version since you include reincarnation, but it certainly could fit into many religious perspectives, Christian and non-Christian.

 

[Hentenza]

Thread moved from Christian Scriptures to Exploring Christianity

 

[Atheist420]

This reminds me of plato's theories, which I believe were totally fabricated of his own mind and without any basis.

Unlike Christianity, which is clearly 100% pure unadulterated fact, right?

 

[Sojourner1]

Do you have any questions about Christianity?

 

[Atheist420]

What you have posted is as much of a speculative belief system as any religion, albeit one that stops short of any speculation as to the Ultimate Cause. A belief that physical death is merely the release of one's consciousness into new planes of existence and that one's consciousness eventually reincarnates is pretty far from garden-variety atheism. The belief system that you have outlined seems to involve non-physical realms with consciousness as the ultimate reality, and to find meaning and purpose in life. All of which sounds ... religious. So apart from the fact that you don't speculate as to the Ultimate Cause, it's hard for me to see how this qualifies as atheism. Everything you have said is entirely consistent with a religious perspective. I have a very intelligent friend who is absolutely obsessed with the idea that we exist as virtual creatures in a cosmic computer program that has been infected by a virus bent on destroying it. He is rabidly opposed to Christianity, and it drives him crazy when I point out that EVERYTHING he believes could easily be accommodated into the most rabid fundamentalist, biblical-literalist version of Christianity. Your belief system might not fit into a biblical-literalist version since you include reincarnation, but it certainly could fit into many religious perspectives, Christian and non-Christian.

The key difference between my pseudo-spiritual philosophy and conventional religion is the absence of God. I do not believe that the universe was created, for if there was no universe, then there was no existence, no reality. An absence even of nothingness. How could anything be created from that? I believe that the universe has always been, and will always be. Also, my beliefs are not based on a book written anonymously thousands of years ago, they are a product of my own subjective experience. Albert Camus claims that to live ones life in the image of another's subjective truth is a form of philosophical suicide. In other words, subscribing to beliefs that do not come from within yourself is an abandonment of personal accountability for the meaning and purpose of your own life. To deny the absurdity of the world is to deny the nature of the universe.

 

[Atheist420]

Do you have any questions about Christianity?

As a matter of fact, I have a question just for you. How can you know so definitively that your branch of your particular religion, which is merely one of thousands and thousands in this world alone, is the ultimate truth?

 

[Hentenza]

As a matter of fact, I have a question just for you. How can you know so definitively that your branch of your particular religion, which is merely one of thousands and thousands in this world alone, is the ultimate truth?

Because God told me.

 

[Sojourner1]

As a matter of fact, I have a question just for you. How can you know so definitively that your branch of your particular religion, which is merely one of thousands and thousands in this world alone, is the ultimate truth?

I don't focus on a "branch" of my religion, but on the gospel of Christ. The foundation of my belief is faith in Christ and my faith is a gift from God. Faith is not blind nor is it just a feeling, it is based on evidence. The evidence for faith in Christ is His resurrection from the dead, the miracles He performed, and the prophecies which he fulfilled.

 

[heritage36]

Unlike Christianity, which is clearly 100% pure unadulterated fact, right?

There is certainly more actual evidence to support that stories of the Bible were true and factual than there is to support what you say about your post life theories is true. You have exactly zero evidence against a large amount that supports the Bible.

 

[LBP]

The key difference between my pseudo-spiritual philosophy and conventional religion is the absence of God. I do not believe that the universe was created, for if there was no universe, then there was no existence, no reality. An absence even of nothingness. How could anything be created from that? I believe that the universe has always been, and will always be. Also, my beliefs are not based on a book written anonymously thousands of years ago, they are a product of my own subjective experience. Albert Camus claims that to live ones life in the image of another's subjective truth is a form of philosophical suicide. In other words, subscribing to beliefs that do not come from within yourself is an abandonment of personal accountability for the meaning and purpose of your own life. To deny the absurdity of the world is to deny the nature of the universe.

I am extremely familiar with Albert Camus, having written about him. As a Christian, I am not "subscribing to beliefs that do not come from within myself." I am subscribing to beliefs for which there is an evidentiary basis and which resonate with my own experiences and intuition. My acceptance of Christianity does indeed "come from within myself." I am not clinging to beliefs merely because others preach them. Surely you can't be suggesting that the fact that Christianity has a historical basis and has been accepted by hundreds of millions of people for 2,000 years is a reason to reject it in favor of some belief system that comes entirely from within oneself? Many people have internally-developed belief systems that are quite insane; the mere fact that a belief system comes from within oneself is no guarantee of its validity.

By no means does an acceptance of Christianity require "an abandonment of personal accountability for the meaning and purpose of your own life." Quite the opposite -- so if this is what you think, you are quite mistaken. Anyway, you have simply substituted a belief system without God that is personelly satisfying to you for a belief system with God that is satisfying to me, that has a historical basis, and that has been satisfying to hundreds of millions of people for 2,000 years. I don't see how or why you regard yourself as different in principle from any other believer, or even what point you are making with your post (except, perhaps, to express your disdain for Christianity). If you know anything about Camus, you know that he would have laughed as long and heartily at your belief system as at a Christian fundamentalist's.

 

[Sir Wilshire]

Also, my beliefs are not based on a book written anonymously thousands of years ago, they are a product of my own subjective experience.

And Albert Camus's experience too, apparently.

Albert Camus claims that to live ones life in the image of another's subjective truth is a form of philosophical suicide. In other words, subscribing to beliefs that do not come from within yourself is an abandonment of personal accountability for the meaning and purpose of your own life.

In other words, it's bad to follow beliefs that aren't your own, except for this one of Albert Camus's, which is apparently okay to follow. Oh what's this I see? A self-refuting statement...

As a matter of fact, I have a question just for you. How can you know so definitively that your branch of your particular religion, which is merely one of thousands and thousands in this world alone, is the ultimate truth?

Because it's true. And we know it is because Jesus rose from the dead, of which there is evidence for.