romansh

Either your parents will understand or they won't. You are not entering into a relationship with your parents, you already have one with them. But here is a question or two ... are you seeking a god because you are entering a relationship with your Christian partner? Will he love you any less regardless of your beliefs or lack thereof? Will you (both) be happy? In Karen Armstrong's The Case for God, she had one concept I heartily agreed with, she was gently admonishing Christians for focussing on their belief whereas Christians 'should' be focussing on their actions. This is of course true for those that have a lack of belief or an active disbelief. So both from a parental and partnership point of view, never mind beliefs, what are your actions going to look like?

When I lost our son, I found myself making a conscious effort not to avoid grief. But to experience and be accepting of that emotion. Evolution has imbued us with that capability so why try and avoid it? When I asked my sister in law about when she lost her husband and how she coped with the grief ... she answered that now it was like an old friend that comes to visit. I found those to be surprisingly true. Neuroscience tells us suffering/pain is not what it seems to be .. nevertheless pain is or at least can be painful.

My Buddhism for Dummies said the same thing more or less. I found I left most of it. For me it is very simple ... there is cause and effect ... I am (we are) a result of that cause and effect. While this might not be the Truth©, it does appear to be true. Is there more, is this "more" independent of cause and effect? Why would I want to be independent of this cause and effect - in fact why would I want to be independent of the universe at large?

These are the relevant posts regarding Truth for you that I found: ... about a Way to be and I think there is only one Way to be and become Human. ​So if I do not think the way as you do I will not be Human, I will remain just human? This is the Truth©? ​I hope you understand that I might just be a little skeptical of this world view. There is only one way to be Free, to (choose and act to) become and be truly Human Some of us see freedom as an illusion ... dependent origination in Buddhist terms or interbeing (intrabeing). A recognition that there is only one way I can be is an interesting world view. That I can see other world views I might have donned should is also interesting. Having said that I was driven to choose my world view. This freedom is also Truth, a lived Truth ​As you probably can tell - I don't think so. ... colors were not the important part of the discussion, so it has been a bit lighthearted and, perhaps, avoidance - as it does not really pertain to Truth. ​Yes I can see why the workings of how our "simple" perceptions might mislead us to our grander perceptions of the Truth©​, and might really pertain to certain world views and in turn, might give us pause for further deliberation. Personally your Truth is completely in the opposite direction to what I perceive as the evidence. Interbeing for me did not imply freedom. Science does not give hope for freedom from cause. (And with respect to Soma, quantum phenomena appear to be caused and are causes themselves). This leaves us with an evidentiary position that is somewhat akin to the not-self in Buddhist terms.

And precisely what is this larger truth or Truth?

OK ... for the first part ... next month our son of sixteen years died ten years ago from a debilitating form of epilepsy ... a seizure we did not catch in time. It never occurred once to me to think of it as evil. Heart wrenching at times yes; but evil no ... that is a particularly Christian concoction. Now how is one pattern of atoms more evil than another? Fine, this is a pragmatic view point. But it continues the place itself in my avoidance box. Confounds pragmatism with the truth. But that is OK.

While I believe in truth or The Truth© even; I believe I have limited access and the access I have is perhaps misleading. Colour and our perception of it is a classical example of how limited our perception is and how it can be illusory.

Ah well I will let all those that have suffered speak for themselves. But as I am talking to you, you can explain to me what makes some patterns of atoms (etc.) evil and others not. Hint - it is your perception that has been informed by your environmental programming.

Actually any response you give is a result of cause and effect. We put them in boxes ... yours is theoretical, and for me I might put yours into avoidance. ( ) Did you see the non existent yellow? (note I am not saying photons that give a yellow perception don't exist ... just that they don't exist on your monitor).

Tariki Here we wander awfully close to free will ... how do we choose anything (never mind between illusory good and evil)? Regarding acceptance ... generally I am accepting of something or not. I suppose I can find my self choosing to go through the motions of acceptance I don't seem to have much freedom here. Perfect love? In the eye of the beholder? I reject the concept of evil and as such can do no evil. But this is true for good too.

Being able to track blood in grass based on the reflective and adsorptive properties of photons is/was a useful trait don't you think thormas ... at least when it comes to the survival and reproduction of your progeny?

You are skirting around the philosophical point thormas. Regardless the degree of colour blindness each of us experiences, the object does not possess the colour we think it has. We are comparing reality versus perception. Our perception is a useful trait especially when it is working "properly".

If you see yellow your equipment is functioning perfectly. Yet there is not a single yellow pixel on your screen

No

Or has equipment been developed that thinks it sees red?

Welcome and if I may be so precocious, can I suggest you have found it ... all we have to do is ...

It is the concept of something being red that is flawed. It has nothing to with the equipment being flawed or popularity or axiomatic definitions. This is an advantage of science as a process. It won't tell you (over eons) what is true or what is the truth, but it will highlight flaws in our perceptions or our truths. Having said that the flawed concept of red has increased the replication rates of certain systems, mostly biological.

Waste of perfectly good energy to make the helium. Also the released balloon always makes me sad. Its all a fad ... :-)

Seems reasonable to me in my non-Buddhist way.

It would be nice for my death to celebrated in some way that reflects my life. I suppose people would have to attend with a squash racquet in one hand and a drink in the other and spout philosophical nonsense all afternoon (and evening if it is a good wake). If they did it would mean my life had some effect and if they didn't it would mean my life did not have the effect that I currently had confabulated a hope for. Either way it is fine.

If there is nothing more to learn ... I would suggest try teaching. Learning may be accomplished, understanding will start. Welcome Mertonia

I will repeat, here's my take ... Jesus likely existed. How much of what we find in the New Testament can actually be ascribed to Jesus (if anything) is a completely different matter. When does it matter? If we were to take a literal or partially literal view of the scripture in question, then it matters. If we treat it as metaphor it then becomes what did the later scribes mean by their stories or what they thought history actually meant.

Not sure Tarik, the parts that make up the universe see this duality. I like Sagan's quote ... we are a way for the cosmos to know itself. Not just the astronomical bits, I suspect.

I caught a snippet on CNN on the History of Humour (without the u probably). It highlighted the difference between burlesque and vaudeville. I have to admit I am more aligned with burlesque without the hyphen. Looking forward to Burl's burlesque it will make a change from the vaudeville.

I think that is about right Joseph. But I am sharply aware that my mind (even when I get lost in it) is a reflection of the universe. If I become aware of the room I am in am I less lost? I look out the window ... less lost? I could go on. :-)