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That's fine. Every firm conviction is what it is ONLY because it speaks to mind, heart and spirit. It does to mine, does not to my wife, we are still together after 40 years. I am not even sure, why you decided that I am on some sort of a quest to convince anyone in my views. I am only pointing out that, anything is plausible until proven beyond any doubt, as false and, considering that, pretty much only disinformation is mass supplied to masses.
But, you see - this is conceptual argument, not religious. I follow the principle, expressed in one sentence - Only lies will be printed. There is a very long story behind this and this is not a philosophy or politics section to bring it in. I'm just a crazy old fool, that should have been retired by now and spend time with grandchildren, instead of on idle conversations. But what I found, took me good forty years to arrive at and, it speaks to my mind, heart and spirit - and that is the ultimate proof for me.
That's it. To each of his own, my friend. As they say in the East, there is 968 dhammas to choose from but, they all come to the same end.
PS. A word of wisdom from then CIA director, William Casey
I do not accept that all unevidenced things are equally plausible. And that is probably the primary difference between us. The weakness of my approach is that I probably discount some things I arguably shouldn't. The strength in my view is is that what I don't discount is more likely to more accurately represent reality.
I also do not think that truth never gets printed or even that lies invariably get printed. One can approach an accurate representation of news or information from multiple sources of known provenance. My primary go-to politically is not the WSJ or the NYT for example, but I do skim them to understand the current zeitgeist.
Once in awhile the mainstream sources say the truth out loud, even. I think it was just this Friday that a prominent newscaster said in the heat of a panel discussion, "our job is to control what people think", lol.
Still, I sympathize with what you're trying to do. Some people are more open than others. I am probably by your lights over-concerned with being prematurely open. I think it's on balance a good thing that I'm not open by default to any random truth claim until I've seen the supporting evidence. In fact I'm pretty certain of it. And I consider most mainstream sources to be just as fact free as I consider most of religion. As a society, I think we've lost any common idea of what truth actually is and how one comes by it. I am simply arguing that the rational, scientific, skeptical approach is the best way, ultimately. And I'm not even claiming that science is never mistaken. I'm arguing it's the best methodology, but not that it's perfectly executed on or free of nefarious influences in practice.
Anyway ... thanks for the discussion, and for helping me better understand your views.
This does not have to be so black and white...even if reincarnation does happen...whose to say it happens to EVERYONE? maybe it only happens occasionally, or to certain individuals, or there are certain factors that determine if one is reincarnated or not?
This does not have to be so black and white...even if reincarnation does happen...whose to say it happens to EVERYONE? maybe it only happens occasionally, or to certain individuals, or there are certain factors that determine if one is reincarnated or not?
That could be. Even as a Buddhist, that never occurred to me.
This does not have to be so black and white...even if reincarnation does happen...whose to say it happens to EVERYONE? maybe it only happens occasionally, or to certain individuals, or there are certain factors that determine if one is reincarnated or not?
Re-INCARNATION happens exactly as you describe it. To certain "people". Like Buddha or Dalai Lama. As it is re INCARNATION of the same "persona", so to speak. Usually, because they chose to continue their service to humanity. Sometimes, rarely, it is determined by one's Destiny, if additional lessons need to be learned, while being that "person".
What everyone else does, is re EXISTENCE. When persona is disposed of and "soul" continuous its learning process through forms various, should it be in a form of a human, or ghoul, dwelling between the realms, seeking human energy as food.
I, normally, describe it as a three way fork of choice. One can progress, stagnate, or regress. It is absolutely one's free will choice. There is no punishment or reward for either choice. Only according Destiny, woven by one's own thoughts.
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