A Conclusion On Life As See it

[LightInADarkWorld]

As I type this post I believe there are a few things that must be understood. First, and most exciting, is that this is my first post. Hopefully it is not my last. Second I wish to have an open discussion on a conclusion that I came to last night when I was in that strange state between sleep and wakefulness. This idea struck me so hard that I arose from bed and actually wrote down this hypothesis. The following is all that was written down. Now I must point out that I do not have a degree in philosophy so if anything that I write is incorrect I would greatly appreciate it if I was told.

According to Socrates as per the Socratic method, if a person is posed with a question that they can not find the answer to then the answer will be found if this question is broken down into smaller questions that, when answered, provide the answer to the original,larger question. Now a lot of people are pursuing the meaning of Life which is the larger question. I thought that if this larger question could be broken down into smaller questions and I answered these smaller questions then the answer to our purpose would present itself. Now as I tried to break my own life into smaller questions I was struck by the notion that my life, and by extension humanity as a whole, was chaos. Life is made up of everything in existence from religion to politics, from math to baseball, from me to you. Now the definition of chaos is something that is seemingly random but this is because you lack the knowledge to see the order behind everything. Thus if you find the order behind the chaos then you shall know the smaller questions that are required to answer the larger question. Please bear with me because it's extremely important to me that people understand this. Finally I believe i found the answer to all the smaller questions. When an actor plays a part in a movie or a play he tries to nail this part perfectly. When a pitcher practices for hours on his throw it is beacause he is trying to perfect his game. When a chef works on his dishes to become better it's because he strives for perfection. People pursue perfection in relationships, in love, in family, friends, parenting, everything. Therefore I believe that the purpose of life is the pursuit of perfection in one thing or in everything. Unfortunatley perfection, in my opinion, can never be attained. This is why i consider ours a tragic species.

Well I hope I kept your interest long enough for you to read this whole thing. I would welcome any input I can get whether it be critiscism or praise.

[bernee51]

As I type this post I believe there are a few things that must be understood. First, and most exciting, is that this is my first post.

Welcome to the forum.

Hopefully it is not my last. Second I wish to have an open discussion on a conclusion that I came to last night when I was in that strange state between sleep and wakefulness.

No doubt one of the moderators will point out to you that this section of the forum is for debate where, under normal circumstances, a question for debate raised.

Perhaps your question could be along the lines of "Does the stuggle for perfection make us tragic as a species?"

This idea struck me so hard that I arose from bed and actually wrote down this hypothesis.

I wish I could do that - I normally roll over and go back to sleep.

According to Socrates as per the Socratic method, if a person is posed with a question that they can not find the answer to then the answer will be found if this question is broken down into smaller questions that, when answered, provide the answer to the original,larger question. Now a lot of people are pursuing the meaning of Life which is the larger question. I thought that if this larger question could be broken down into smaller questions and I answered these smaller questions then the answer to our purpose would present itself. Now as I tried to break my own life into smaller questions I was struck by the notion that my life, and by extension humanity as a whole, was chaos. Life is made up of everything in existence from religion to politics, from math to baseball, from me to you. Now the definition of chaos is something that is seemingly random but this is because you lack the knowledge to see the order behind everything. Thus if you find the order behind the chaos then you shall know the smaller questions that are required to answer the larger question. Please bear with me because it's extremely important to me that people understand this. Finally I believe i found the answer to all the smaller questions. When an actor plays a part in a movie or a play he tries to nail this part perfectly. When a pitcher practices for hours on his throw it is beacause he is trying to perfect his game. When a chef works on his dishes to become better it's because he strives for perfection. People pursue perfection in relationships, in love, in family, friends, parenting, everything. Therefore I believe that the purpose of life is the pursuit of perfection in one thing or in everything. Unfortunatley perfection, in my opinion, can never be attained. This is why i consider ours a tragic species.

The perfection being sought in the scenarios you put are struggles for something the strivers perceive to be characteristics of perfection. Note the word 'perceive'. It is all perception - all a mental construct. Belief that these are anything more is the source of suffering - the tragedy of our species as you put it. The striving is a reaction to our continually imagining, rehearsing, justifying, analyzing, commentating, fantasizing, worrying, etc. This, along with the 'tragedy', can be ovecome by acting from mindful awareness of the nature of out being.



Well I hope I kept your interest long enough for you to read this whole thing. I would welcome any input I can get whether it be critiscism or praise.[/quote]

[LightInADarkWorld]

Well I feel I must concede to your point. I'm not sure how I should feel knowing that my first post could be proven wrong so easily. Thank you for the interest you have shown in what I thought could be right.

[bernee51]

Well I feel I must concede to your point. I'm not sure how I should feel knowing that my first post could be proven wrong so easily. Thank you for the interest you have shown in what I thought could be right.

I'm not sure you have been 'proven wrong'. I merely put my 'perspective'. Sharing perspectives is one of the many benefits of participation in such discussions.

Again welcome

b

[Furrowed Brow]

According to Socrates as per the Socratic method, if a person is posed with a question that they can not find the answer to then the answer will be found if this question is broken down into smaller questions that, when answered, provide the answer to the original, larger question.

Nah. The Socratic method is to persistently ask awkward yet pertinent questions until you eventually come to realize that you don’t understand anything.

Now the definition of chaos is something that is seemingly random but this is because you lack the knowledge to see the order behind everything. Thus if you find the order behind the chaos then you shall know the smaller questions that are required to answer the larger question.

Again I’d say the Socratic method brings one to an awareness of the chaos behind the apparent order of things.

When a pitcher practices for hours on his throw it is because he is trying to perfect his game.

When the pitcher pitches he is combating various physical forces that come into play like gravity and mass *accelerations, and spin etc. It’s not that he ever reaches perfection more that at some point he will throw the fastest swerviest ball -his best ever - and then as he ages his muscle and brain begin to give out and he will never be as quite as good again; and if he lives long enough he may even forget what the darn thing is called, and what he used to do with it, though he'll know that without any teeth its no good trying to chew it.

I kind of see the “purpose� as a struggle against our inevitable slow disintegration. (But then I’ve always been a cheery fellow.) I think only a young person could see the purpose of life as the pursuit of perfection. (Not that I’m old mind)

[melodious]

Welcome to the forum, LightInADarkWorld - Salutation in the Spirit of the Messiah!

Light was shining in darkness, and darkness did not master it. - John 1:5 Scholars Version

Great name. It alludes to the mystery of the divine spinther (light/spirit) that is within the human body (darkness/matter). This is the "good news," indeed! We need only to aspire to fully awaken it within us if we wish to free ourselves from the tragic illusion of this world.

... a conclusion that I came to last night when I was in that strange state between sleep and wakefulness.

It is interesting that you point out the state in which you received your premonition. A lucid dreamstate is a perfect condition for communication with the holy angels... and demons, I might add; all forms of good, evil, and admixed (archonic) forces.

According to Socrates as per the Socratic method, if a person is posed with a question that they can not find the answer to then the answer will be found if this question is broken down into smaller questions that, when answered, provide the answer to the original,larger question. Now a lot of people are pursuing the meaning of Life which is the larger question. I thought that if this larger question could be broken down into smaller questions and I answered these smaller questions then the answer to our purpose would present itself.

Your contemplation is a worthy one and its answer is one that is not easily given, nor taken. But the truth of the mystery is expressed in many different Christian verses.

Jesus said, "He who seeks will find, and he who knocks will be let in." - Gospel of Thomas, Verse 94

The gift of gnosis (spiritual knowledge) comes only to those who seek it. If we do not ask the right questions, then we cannot expect to receive any true anwers. This is what is known as the Great Work, or Divine Labor.

Jeus said, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few. Beseech the Lord, therefore, to send out laborers to the harvest." - Gospel of Thomas, Verse 73

Faith is only as important as the inspiration it gives us to embark upon the Path of Gnosis; the Path, or Way, itself being the enlightenment experience.

Now as I tried to break my own life into smaller questions I was struck by the notion that my life, and by extension humanity as a whole, was chaos.

"In order for the creative process to continue and Adam Kadmon (universe of the primordial human) to awaken and enter into conscious unity with God, this state of indifferentiated primordial unity must be broken. Thus the Sefirot (emanations of the Tree of Life) of Adam Kadmon are shattered.
When this orginal primordial unity is broken, the primitive Sefirot had no connection or way to relate to one another and, therefore, existed in complete separation and anarchy. This primordial state is called the universe of Bohu Ve-Tohu (void and chaos). Kabbalah says that, in the process of the formation of the Sefirot of Atzilut (archeptyal universe, or world of supernal light), countless universes were created and destroyed, thus producing the substance through which the dark and hostile would later take shape." - Tau Malachi, Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ
He also writes this about chaos:
"This vision (chaos) corresponds to the universe of Beriyah, where the dominion of darkness comes into being, and to the inner matrix of the body of glory, the secret of which is the union of the light and the darkness."

Therefore I believe that the purpose of life is the pursuit of perfection in one thing or in everything. Unfortunatley perfection, in my opinion, can never be attained. This is why i consider ours a tragic species.

Another worthy contemplation, yet with a bit of a glib conclusion, in my opinion. Perfection exists in the world like a tree bears fruit - some sweeter and more satisfying than others in a way that expresses a relative and subjective truth to the one eating it (the experiencer). Full perfection would be what Gnostics call Messianic, or Christ, Consciousness - this is a heavenly fruit, indeed! But this is an ever becoming experience for the initiate, and, again, the enlightenment and libertation of the soul becomes the Path, or Way (Tao), itself. Christ came into this world to impart and deliver this spiritual hope for humankind.

Jesus says to Judas: "Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star." - Gospel of Judas

"Ever man and every woman is a star. Every number is infinite; there is no difference.
Come forth, o children of the stars, & take your fill of love!
For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union."
- The Master Therion, Liber Al Vel Legis 1:3-4, 12, & 29

Thank you for sharing your personal experience, LightInADarkWorld, and I hope something within my post will inspire, evoke, and/or create more questions about the nature of human existence and the mystery of consciousness.

[LightInADarkWorld]

Well thank you for the replies I have been given as I had not considered that maybe the state I was in could have been a conduit used by G*d to show me that our goal is spiritual perfection through Him and Jesus Christ. And good guess Furrowed Brow cause I actually am still kind of young. But how do you know that behind every order there is chaos?I dunno, maybe I just like my idea better


Oh and thank you i like my name too