• leo
    882
    I want to tell you about the only way that everything can be explained (that's the only way I've found, and I think any other way leaves some things unexplained).

    The first thing we can be sure of is the truth of existence, that there is existence rather than non-existence, at least for now.

    Other important things that I think we can agree on:

    1. The universe we see behaves partially according to rules, there is not a total absence of rules otherwise nothing could be predicted
    2. We are able to create worlds in our imagination that do not seem to follow any rule
    3. We are able to create worlds in our imagination in which there are rules
    4. In order for there to be a game there needs to be rules
    5. We are all part of everything that exists (let's call it Existence)

    Now consider the following, you don't have to believe it right away but entertain the idea and see where it leads:

    This universe is a creation of Existence, a game played in the mind of Existence. In that game there are rules, such that two main sides are competing: one side attempts to perpetuate life, the other side attempts to destroy it. There are many playable characters in that game: humans, other animals, plants, bacteria and all sorts of life, who have freedom to act within the rules of the game. Existence is playing all the characters at the same time, but Existence is not an entity separate from us, we are part of it, so we are a part of Existence playing the game.

    In that game life is struggling with itself to survive, to keep on existing. There is a part of life that wants to fight to keep on surviving, and a part of life that wants to simply give up and cease to exist as it sees no point in fighting for existence.

    Existence faces a similar struggle as a whole, beyond this universe. Sometimes we wonder what it would be like if we were immortal, if we couldn't die, we think eventually we would get so bored that it would be hell. That's an aspect of the very struggle that Existence faces. A part of it wants to keep imagining worlds and beauty, and a part of it wants to simply stop.

    Sometimes we wonder why there is something rather than nothing. There is something rather than nothing because a part of Existence fights for these things to exist. There is suffering in this universe because Existence itself suffers, struggling with itself. It cannot struggle with non-existence, it can only struggle with itself. If Existence didn't struggle with itself it could simply create perfect worlds of infinite beauty devoid of suffering. But it doesn't because the worlds it creates are a reflection of itself.

    Existence is doomed to be alone with itself. It imagines worlds to escape this existential suffering, but that suffering still lingers in the background. Keep on going, or cease to exist? If it gives up everything disappears, including all the incredible beauty that it can create. But if it keeps going it suffers, from being eternally alone with itself, keeping worlds running in its mind, while a part of it wants to stop. It fights to keep the beauty alive, like we do as we are a part of it. And some of us want to die or convince others to stop procreating and to stop keeping life going, as they are also a part of Existence that doesn't want to keep going, because Existence is alone and the worlds it creates are illusions, it imagines various beings interacting with one another to forget that it is alone, but deep down it knows it is alone, and that's the existential suffering we sometimes experience.

    In another thread I described how the universe is a fight between good and evil, but good and evil are not separate entities they are part of Existence. There is not Good struggling against Evil, there is Existence struggling with itself to decide whether to keep going or not, to decide whether to keep imagining worlds and maintaining them or to stop. It takes effort to keep the illusion going, that there are beings living in a universe in which there are rules, while the underlying reality is Existence is alone and there are no rules and no worlds besides the ones it creates.

    And indeed if you were the only being that exists and could imagine anything, what would you do? As long as you create and maintain worlds in your mind beauty can exist. It takes effort to maintain beauty, to maintain order, rather than pure disorder. A part of you would want to keep going, so that the beauty can keep existing, while a part of you would want to stop, because it sees no point. One part of you would try to convince you that it's worth it to keep fighting for it, while one part of you would try to convince you to stop. That struggle is the same that plays out within us, among us, everywhere. Fight to keep the beauty alive, or give up and let it cease to exist. There isn't paradise or hell that awaits us, just a similar struggle, we don't escape Existence by stopping playing a game within it.

    There is a lot more to say about all this, for instance those who exploit others for their own personal gain are not realizing that they're exploiting themselves, through their actions a part of Existence feels a little better and another part feels a lot worse. As parts of Existence we have to cooperate to keep Existence going, the more we are divided the harder it is for Existence to keep going, and the more we move towards non-existence.

    I'll stop there for now. Sure you can say there is a lot of speculation, but doesn't that make sense of everything? What else could it be? To me it's not speculation, it's what I have seen.
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