Will we see loved ones after we die?

[MysticPhD]

Originally Posted by MysticPhD

Correct. None of our Carnal appetites matter or have anything to do with our Spiritual existence. It is amazing how difficult it seems for most to make this separation between our Carnal lives and our Spiritual ones. Physical life provides strong classical and operant conditioning. The idea of a resurrection of the body lies at the heart of it. It is a primitive desire to remain connected to our physical existence . . . the only one we know. I guess it would be analogous to the need to stay attached to the umbilical chord . . . if a new-born baby were aware of it.

Originally Posted by mordant

I feel that the carnal / spiritual dichotomy is false. For one thing the love between a man and a woman is not 100% sexual and there is nothing dirty about the part that is. For another, the altruistic love of your fellow man is not 100% pure and unsullied either. My love for my fellow man is laced with self interest. I want to promote a stable, civil society that's attractive to live in, after all. And there's nothing wrong with seeing rational self interest in that.
I don't see one type of love as necessarily to be pursued in preference to the other, as necessarily more noble or elevated or pure than the other, or as necessarily more satisfying or free of pain than the other.

Interesting that you would insert a word like "dirty" with reference to physical love. That has been an egregious result of stupid religious beliefs and conditioning. While there is no love endemic to Lust, it can be and usually is brought to the act in romantic love. I suspect it happens more frequently and with greater emphasis among the females, however. Self-interest is unavoidable in human motivation. But the point of Spiritual involvement is to temper and restrain it to achieve optimum outcomes for all involved = agape love.

[old_cold]

Originally Posted by MysticPhD

Self-interest is unavoidable in human motivation. But the point of Spiritual involvement is to temper and restrain it to achieve optimum outcomes for all involved = agape love.

But the point is to temper and restrain it to achieve optimum outcomes for all involved for the sake of a better functioning society.

[mordant]

Originally Posted by MysticPhD

Interesting that you would insert a word like "dirty" with reference to physical love. That has been an egregious result of stupid religious beliefs and conditioning.

I inserted it because it's implied in your disparagement of romantic / physical / sexual aspects of love as "carnal".

Carnal = "relating to physical, especially sexual, needs and activities".

I was decrying the false dichotomy of carnal vs spiritual.

[MysticPhD]

Originally Posted by MysticPhD

Interesting that you would insert a word like "dirty" with reference to physical love. That has been an egregious result of stupid religious beliefs and conditioning. While there is no love endemic to Lust, it can be and usually is brought to the act in romantic love. I suspect it happens more frequently and with greater emphasis among the females, however. Self-interest is unavoidable in human motivation. But the point of Spiritual involvement is to temper and restrain it to achieve optimum outcomes for all involved = agape love.

Originally Posted by mordant

I inserted it because it's implied in your disparagement of romantic / physical / sexual aspects of love as "carnal".
Carnal = "relating to physical, especially sexual, needs and activities".
I was decrying the false dichotomy of carnal vs spiritual.

There was no disparagement. Carnal refers to ALL of our physical appetites and needs. Spiritual refers to ALL our psychological and cognitive needs. There is absolutely NO connection between LUST and LOVE. They have nothing to do with one another. For psychological (spiritual) reasons, love can be merged with the physical/biological need . . . or it is not there at all.