We are discussing why in another thread but I also wonder what people think the world is. I was going to annoy all the science people by posting "I don't believe in space" in their section but figured I should put it somewhere where it might actually get discussed.
I approach this from a metaphysical, abstract, point of view. Science says the Earth was formed by fire and gases. Fire represents spirit and gases represent etheric existence and mind. First the world is covered in water. Water represents emotions and the emotional being. Then comes land. Land representing gross matter.
So I see the world as having come into being as a original point of potential spiritual energy that took on form. That form then produces etheric being, souls in their original state all hovering around waiting to see what happens. Then energy is mixed with matter becoming water and eventually reduces the vibrational levels to create solid form. I think the world is a physical, illusionary representation of the abstract.
Then the spark of life occurs to see if it can survive. Life forms evolve as spirit and ether become more proficient at inhabiting gross form and so it goes.
I think that all matter around us including space is a graphic representation of a principle and that is all. That we have consciousness is the only reason we want to believe this is "real".
You are all welcome to think I am crazy. Wouldn't bother me one bit. What do you think this planet is?
What?
What?
Jack Sprat wrote: >> What do you think this planet is?
My imagination. Nothing like this could possibly be real.
:-6 :-6
Well done, Jack.
You have an open mind. I must admit I expected indignant attack to be the first response. It is not so hard to conceive of then!
Yes, imagination...perception...dream.
Think of time in a dream. You may walk around the block in a dream, stop to talk to neghbours, pet their dog, take about 20 minutes noticing all the new flowers and details of the neighbourhood. Yet you may have this dream in a 5 minute nap. How do 20 minutes of detailed experience happen in less than 5 minutes? I had a dream that lasted a week yet I dreamed it all in one night. I woke up with full recollection of everything that had happened and it took 4 typed pages to write it out. Yet all this happened not just in one night but only during the REM stage of that one night.
My imagination. Nothing like this could possibly be real.
:-6 :-6
Well done, Jack.
You have an open mind. I must admit I expected indignant attack to be the first response. It is not so hard to conceive of then!
Yes, imagination...perception...dream.
Think of time in a dream. You may walk around the block in a dream, stop to talk to neghbours, pet their dog, take about 20 minutes noticing all the new flowers and details of the neighbourhood. Yet you may have this dream in a 5 minute nap. How do 20 minutes of detailed experience happen in less than 5 minutes? I had a dream that lasted a week yet I dreamed it all in one night. I woke up with full recollection of everything that had happened and it took 4 typed pages to write it out. Yet all this happened not just in one night but only during the REM stage of that one night.
What?
In reading this thread I have come to realize that for a very long time I have felt like my mind has been trapped in my own head, trapped and not been able to reach out to other minds and/or the rest of the universe. Thank you so very much for unlocking its prison!
Koan, your idea of what is the world intrigues me. My mind tells me there is much truth in what you say but my traditional Christian belief is trying to reconcile your definition of the world with its own. I have a strong sense that the two are not all that far apart but I don't think I could explain any further right now.
Jack, I used to have nightmares all night, every night from the time I was 4 until I was in my teens. Might have been younger but most of my recollections beging around age 4. And I used to have serial dreams. You are the only other person I know of who has had them. Most people thought I was crazy! Ha!
This forum has already begun to nourish me at a time when I needed it most.
MiwSher
Koan, your idea of what is the world intrigues me. My mind tells me there is much truth in what you say but my traditional Christian belief is trying to reconcile your definition of the world with its own. I have a strong sense that the two are not all that far apart but I don't think I could explain any further right now.
Jack, I used to have nightmares all night, every night from the time I was 4 until I was in my teens. Might have been younger but most of my recollections beging around age 4. And I used to have serial dreams. You are the only other person I know of who has had them. Most people thought I was crazy! Ha!
This forum has already begun to nourish me at a time when I needed it most.
MiwSher
Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe 
What?
Consider what "normal" means. There is no such thing. We are all unique and I certainly intend to remain that way.
Well said, Jack.
I had not heard of "serial" dreams as such. I have gone back into a dream after waking but I don't think that is the same thing. Here is another thought to connect dreams to reality. How is it we see and experience the things in our dreams as if they were real. We can go to places we've never been, see things we've not seen before...All the senses perceive these things yet they are not really "there". If there is a scientific explanation, could not this explanation also apply to what is called "reality".
your idea of what is the world intrigues me. My mind tells me there is much truth in what you say but my traditional Christian belief is trying to reconcile your definition of the world with its own. I have a strong sense that the two are not all that far apart but I don't think I could explain any further right now.
I am glad you feel your mind unlocking. There can be truth on many levels and connections between things that are apparantly separate. If you look for common threads you can usually find a way to connect anything. If you like the idea and it feels right, you don't have to switch, you can incorporate it, or alter it to something that fits better and share your alteration.
It sounds like you two could contribute to the 'weird dreams thread' :wah:
No, I'm serious....Really.
Well said, Jack.
I had not heard of "serial" dreams as such. I have gone back into a dream after waking but I don't think that is the same thing. Here is another thought to connect dreams to reality. How is it we see and experience the things in our dreams as if they were real. We can go to places we've never been, see things we've not seen before...All the senses perceive these things yet they are not really "there". If there is a scientific explanation, could not this explanation also apply to what is called "reality".
your idea of what is the world intrigues me. My mind tells me there is much truth in what you say but my traditional Christian belief is trying to reconcile your definition of the world with its own. I have a strong sense that the two are not all that far apart but I don't think I could explain any further right now.
I am glad you feel your mind unlocking. There can be truth on many levels and connections between things that are apparantly separate. If you look for common threads you can usually find a way to connect anything. If you like the idea and it feels right, you don't have to switch, you can incorporate it, or alter it to something that fits better and share your alteration.
It sounds like you two could contribute to the 'weird dreams thread' :wah:
No, I'm serious....Really.
What?
I've asked Ted, our resident translation expert, what his explanation of Genesis' creation story is. If you make it here, Ted, please continue past "Let there be light" to the day of rest.
In the mean time, I would like to note that
In the beginning God created the heaven and earth.
(if God resides in heaven why did he have to create it?)
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
(note the presence of Spirit and how does it move upon waters when there is still no form?, unless form is to mean land and water is actually formless)
Anyway, that is the first time I have EVER quoted the bible.
Next point. Often I say something then walk to my library and discover the information that supports it. I've always been kind of backwards that way. So here's what I found...
Credit to Barbara Ann Brennan in "Hands of Light"
Ms. Brennan is a physicist, psychotherapist and healer.
Our understanding of the world has been based on Newtonian physics. Seeing ourselves as solid objects. The Newtonian model of the universe describes a collection of atoms comprised of electrons, protons, neutrons and nucleus. We are composed of tiny ping pong balls. This view is apparently comforting to those of us who prefer to see the world as solid and largely unchanging, with very clear rules that govern its function. Linear.
In the early 19th century they discover "Fields" which challenged Newton's mechanical explanation of magnetism.
Einstein in his Theory of Relativity in 1905 shattered all the principal concepts of the Newtonian world view. According to relativity theory, space is not three-dimensional, and time is not a separate entity. They are connected and form a fourth-dimensional continuum, "space-time". We have all had moments when time seemed to speed up or slow down. There is a difference between Newtonian linear time and "experienced time".
I could go on but, for now, I'll just relate back by saying if time is an illusion then our perception of the world and space is just as likely a convenient way of expression and that is all.
What I think is "cool" is that I bought this book two years ago and just cracked the cover this afternoon. :wah:
In the mean time, I would like to note that
In the beginning God created the heaven and earth.
(if God resides in heaven why did he have to create it?)
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
(note the presence of Spirit and how does it move upon waters when there is still no form?, unless form is to mean land and water is actually formless)
Anyway, that is the first time I have EVER quoted the bible.
Next point. Often I say something then walk to my library and discover the information that supports it. I've always been kind of backwards that way. So here's what I found...
Credit to Barbara Ann Brennan in "Hands of Light"
Ms. Brennan is a physicist, psychotherapist and healer.
Our understanding of the world has been based on Newtonian physics. Seeing ourselves as solid objects. The Newtonian model of the universe describes a collection of atoms comprised of electrons, protons, neutrons and nucleus. We are composed of tiny ping pong balls. This view is apparently comforting to those of us who prefer to see the world as solid and largely unchanging, with very clear rules that govern its function. Linear.
In the early 19th century they discover "Fields" which challenged Newton's mechanical explanation of magnetism.
Einstein in his Theory of Relativity in 1905 shattered all the principal concepts of the Newtonian world view. According to relativity theory, space is not three-dimensional, and time is not a separate entity. They are connected and form a fourth-dimensional continuum, "space-time". We have all had moments when time seemed to speed up or slow down. There is a difference between Newtonian linear time and "experienced time".
I could go on but, for now, I'll just relate back by saying if time is an illusion then our perception of the world and space is just as likely a convenient way of expression and that is all.
What I think is "cool" is that I bought this book two years ago and just cracked the cover this afternoon. :wah: