Check Please

I've realized something recently... I've realized that I had slipped into a life that was similar to those I used to mock. I used to believe people around me weren't alive. Well, not really living - by this I mean not living life to the fullest. It seemed like people didn't remember past events so well. It seemed like they had certain things that they wanted to do, but no reasons why they wanted to do them. It was like they were given a list of things to accomplish in life, and they were just looking to put check marks next to them, so they could move on to the next item. I used to abhor this kind of life, and yet there it was, slowly becoming a part of mine!

I found that I wasn't remembering as many details of events as I used to. I used to treat each event as if it were special, no matter what it was or how many times I had done it in the past. If I am not enjoying something, why do it? Or better stated, if I have to do it, why not enjoy it? Enjoyment is a choice! Even if the task isn't. An the more special something is, the clearer the memory is, so why not make everything seem special?

What I saw in my life was that I was looking for these check marks without realizing it. I felt bad because I was missing certain check marks - no girlfriend, no children, no steady employment, not my ideal weight, etc. And with other items on my Grand List, I was just happy that I had done something about them. I should have been happy while doing it, not happy because it was over. An example of this: DVDs. I had a stack of DVDs to watch, so I powered my way through them. Why? So that I could say that I had watched them. But, did I really watch them if I didn't enjoy them? Isn't enjoying something the real measure of whether something was accomplished or not?

So, I say on to you, be careful! Do not fall for the subtle trap of trying to get things done. Something completed isn't worth it if you didn't enjoy it, no matter what it is you have to do.

The Edward

Hell?

It seems that most religions have a very simple view of hell, or at least the ones that have a view of hell. If The Real World is really timeless and there is such a thing as eternity, so much more could be done with a Hell!

Imagine that you spend your life, struggling, but you feel that you are gaining Karma through this process. You are reborn a million times, and you become more enlightened each time. At some point, you know true peace and enlightenment. Imagine how much more your suffering would be if it turned out that this whole Karma and Enlightenment was just part of Hell! Being Enlightened and knowing all of the goodness that could have been yours, you will truly suffer for Eternity!

If there is a Hell, I do not think it would be the "bringing pain to nerve endings" type. Sure, a lake of fire seems like it would suck, and it probably would. But there is more to Life than just using nerve endings for pain or pleasure. To think of an afterlife totally based on nerve endings seems kind of juvenile.

Back to that Karma thing. Based on the ideas expressed above, it seems that this would indeed possibly be Hell right now. We do not Know God's presence, we can not feel his/her eternal love, so by definition, we are separated from God, therefore in Hell. So, working oneself up to a higher state, suffering for the common good, becoming a better "person", and possibly being reborn again and again to gain that special Karma just means that you are working your way to Eternal Damnation and Suffering as quickly as you can!

Put some brakes on it. Live a little. Do not trying to advance your Enlightenment, for you are only dooming yourself!

The Edward

Is this Heaven?

Say you were to die. Say also that the Christians were correct, and when you die you will either go to Heaven or Hell for all Eternity. Eternity is a long, long time. Given all of this, let's think about what this means...

Say that you end up in Heaven. You are shocked, because you don't believe that you lead the Christan life, but here you are, in Christian Heaven. (or better still, you were a Christian, did all of the Christian things, and now you are exactly where you thought you should be!) You are experiencing all of the greatest joys (non-sexual) that you can imagine. You are perfectly happy and content. You experience True Bless every waking moment that you are in Heaven. Heaven is so magnificent that my words pale in comparison to its greatness!

This goes on for a million years or more, which is less than a blink of the eye to Eternity.

Say you wake up in Heaven one day, after these millions of years have past, and Satan is there next to your glorious bed. He tells you that you have actually been in Hell for all of this time and now your suffering can begin. Now that you have had a million years of True Peace, your suffering will seem so much worse - you will know what you are missing while you are suffering in Hell. This is far worse than just starting your suffering as soon as you arrived, according to Him.

So, the question is: Could you ever really know that you were in Heaven?

The Edward

RIP

The purpose of life.  It is something I have spent many, many hours/weeks/years thinking about, and I believe I have finally discovered it!  You're probably thinking, pussy, that is what he is always on about.  You think I am going to say that all of society is based around breeding competition, since it is.  But this is not just about societal goals, but about a bigger question, Life!

People want to be comfortable.  People work to achieve a level of comfort that they are happy with.  People could always work harder and get more money or more status in society, but most people stop at some point.  They reach a place where they are as comfortable as they are willing to go vs the pain of going further.  People want to reach this stable point, the point where they can rest in peace.

A neighbor of my parents.  She lives off a pension.  It isn't much, but it is enough to supply all of her needs, so she is done.  She has found level.  Now what?  She will stay there until she dies.  She has no forward drive, no need to get more out of life.  Why?  She has achieved her life's purpose, to find a place where she is comfortable. Forever.

I have friends who play video games.  Some spend most every waking moment doing that.  Some may say it is an obsession, but I disagree - they have reached that stable point.  Once people hit this point where their lives are arranged just so and require no more maintenance, they stop living.  They have achieved life's purpose.  Once you have gotten there, and you have a stable life, do you really need to continue to be there, or is it so stable that it can exist independent of you?

See, that is life's purpose: to die.  I consider stable things to be dead things.  People seem to want to reach that stable point, then rest.  But what is that rest but a prelude to the eternal rest of that endless night.  I do not believe that is in the cards for me, I do not believe in finding that stable point, and by this I know I will be around forever.  Ever changing, never stable, never achieving that peace that is the pursuit of the living. That one thing that all people seem to crave.

The Edward