Natural Freedom

We all think all our actions are supposed to lead somewhere, but the end result is always death. And whether you believe in a higher power or an afterlife (I don't), this existence is basically this one time thing that's going to end sooner or later. What's the use in worrying about approval (or anything) if we're all living on borrowed time that will, sooner or later, expire.

And this is not in a depressed, sad, I want to kill myself way either. This nihilism is liberating as hell. There is no reason to fear anything, because it just ties into a fear of accepting that we're going to die. I think I've accepted it, but it is a bummer thinking about it. We do, however, have to enjoy what we do have. It's gonna disappear soon anyway, so might as well.

"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everybody drops to zero"

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Take it easy, man. But take it.

This is why a lot of people who really face death have a massive epiphany.

Facing your own mortality in a really brutally honest way makes you look at things from a different perspective.

It can be a really valuable lesson.

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In building a statue, a sculptor doesn't keep adding clay to his subject.He keeps chiseling away at the inessentials until the truth of its creation is revealed without obstructions. Perfection is not when there is no more to add,but no more to take away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori

Here in Mexico we take death the charming and funny way. We even celebrate a day in the calendar.
1st of November it's the day of the deads.



"Primero de noviembre"

Before I fall sleep I always think about this shit, and about the members of my family and all the people I interact on daily basis and the fate we all share, I know it's sounds fucked up but it's really the only thing that is secure in this life.

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GMST

Contemplating death is only depressing when you realize you are taking life for granted.

Stoics such as Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius had this practice where they would contemplate not only their death, but losing everything they had as means of not taking anything for granted. That was their main formula for wanting what they already had.

What a great thread.

This, in which our deepest fears are rooted, is simultaneously where one can find the deepest peace.

More lightly: no meaning, no purpose, no grand thing i'm supposed to accomplish other than to exist and experience? What a fucking load off my shoulders!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXz8xMaJi4

Life has an enormous amount of meaning, it's just meaningless on the level of the matrix.

What grand meaning does it have?

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Take it easy, man. But take it.

We get to define it ourselves. His answer is as irrelevant to you as yours is to him, and neither is "right" unless you believe in a mandate from outside of yourself. IMHO.

For some your stance is empowering. Others have to believe it serves some specific purpose as part of a big plan and that it is hugely important. For others it would be depressing and apathetic.

Choose wisely, but don't assume you are right about 'THE' meaning of anything for anyone else, other than for you, no matter how deeply it resonates.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXz8xMaJi4

I worded that badly, but I genuinely wanted to know his perspective on it.

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Take it easy, man. But take it.

Cool - I also would enjoy hearing it. Different perspectives can open things up, I've just been a lot happier not looking for the "right" one and throwing that into the mix

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXz8xMaJi4

"What's the use in worrying, what's the use in hurrying?"

The meaning of life is whatever you make it.

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EVERYTHING in life is conditional...EVERYTHING.

Pimposophy Revisited is now finally available on Amazon in all territories!

And oh my god. Just realized I was using comforting phrases to deny the reality of life.

Yup.

Well caught

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In building a statue, a sculptor doesn't keep adding clay to his subject.He keeps chiseling away at the inessentials until the truth of its creation is revealed without obstructions. Perfection is not when there is no more to add,but no more to take away.

Wow this is a fucking awesome thread. Moose, for me I believe that waking up from the matrix is very meaningful. I don't have a big explanation of what the true meaning of life is but I do like to believe that anything is possible. However, my beliefs in religion being the answer are gone along with my beliefs in the matrix.

I think that when it comes down to it, I do believe we are connected to this universe. Our physical bodies are mortal but our connection with the universe is infinite. But these are my beliefs like Kidd and flow said we get to define it ourselves. Sometimes I'm amazed by the universe and other times I'm disgusted by it but there are far more positive things in this world then negative. The ugliest part of this world in my opinion are human beings and are beliefs that the world revolves around us but still there our a lot of great things about this planet and this life that hold meaning that I sometimes tend to fall into an awe about it.

Flow you totally blew my mind in your one post saying that this is all just a thought. When I read that I felt an enormous amount of space. That even this universe is just a thought. If you meditate with that for a few minutes....

I understand where you're coming from. Me, I think us humans try to make our existence feel like it has a higher purpose to help us sleep at night. I don't think there's anything separating us from other mammals, reptiles, insects, etc. They simply die, fertilize the earth, and so do we.

Then again, whenever I had a psychadelic trip, I always felt like I saw what you're describing. A lot of people get in touch with a higher power when they do. So who knows.

And yes, waking up from the matrix is huge. Living your only life in a life...well, 99% of the population is still plugged in, but it would suck.

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Take it easy, man. But take it.

Would you believe that i was just thinking of posting something almost exactly like this? The only difference was that i was going to put "i am not depressed or going to kill myself" at the top before writing anything else. I decided not to since i believed that people on this forum that truly searched themselves would have found out this truth by themselves.

Yeah I also agree with that. Humans are the only species that have the capability to contemplate their existence and the universe. All other species simply live without questioning anything. Something else I though was really interesting that I heard a while ago, I think it might of been a mooji video, he said something like, the consciousness of this universe is so complex that it actually has the ability to contemplate its own existence, which is what we are doing right now. Like we are the universe contemplating itself. That was something that when I first heard it, I just sat in silence for a few minutes just smiling. I never heard anything like that before and thought it was just awesome. The complexity of the universe is so vast that it actually contemplates its own existence...wow.

Also another great quote I heard was from a philosopher named Alan Watts who said "the real you, is not a puppet that life pushes around. The real deep down you is the whole universe. You are something the universe is doing in the same way that a wave is something the whole ocean is doing". You could look up a lot of his stuff on YouTube.

I still have yet to try any type of psychedelic but I hear similar things. People contemplate the universe while tripping and have these spiritual experiences. Hopefully sometime over this summer I'll be able to try some and just chill on a beach or something.

Yes these same analogies will appear from thousands of teachers back to Buddha and way before -- all these guys said the same thing way before there was an internet for them to talk to each other because it is a fundamental truth when experienced.

It is a thought so complex it has become aware of itself. It would make 'the matrix' (like the movie) look like the game 'pong.' We have become self-aware enough that it is a wave thinking it is now separate from the ocean rather than a functioning of it. We also spend a lot of time TRYING to be part of the ocean again when it is fundamentally always there -- that's why the work is LETTING GO, then the truth becomes self evident (again, which is why all these guys for thousands of years say variations of the same thing)

Psychadelics are not necessary and you also may not have total confidence after the fact that what you experienced was a 'truth' or just a strange effect. Of course a lot of great guys used them so I am not making a judgement call.

Let's just say I tried something once and while amazing, it paled in comparison to my totally lucid experiences working with myself or with a teacher who does this type of thing

As for why would consciousness 'create' something that could have self awareness -- one thing to chew on. If you never saw yourself in a mirror, if reflective surfaces didn't exist, you would never get a chance to see what you look like. Consciousness is just fine existing by itself but maybe it enjoys creating a context where it can actually see itself, and the different forms it constantly creates and destroys, entire mini-species sometimes in a matter of days.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXz8xMaJi4

Damn flow your right on point with all that. The idea that consciousness created us to experience its own manifestation of this universe is something so profound. You would wonder why they don't talk about this in church lol. That is pretty much how I veiw this existence. I'm not a Buddha or an enlightened person but that is a philosophy that makes the most sense to me.