In a world where all is unstable, and nought can endure, but is swept onwards at once in the hurrying whirlpool of change; where a man, if he is to keep erect at all, must always be advancing and moving, like an acrobat on a rope—in such a world, happiness is inconceivable. How can it dwell where, as Plato says, continual Becoming and never Being is the sole form of existence? In the first place, a man never is happy, but spends his whole life in striving after something which he thinks will make him so; he seldom attains his goal, and when he does, it is only to be disappointed; he is mostly shipwrecked in the end, and comes into harbor with masts and rigging gone. And then, it is all one whether he has been happy or miserable; for his life was never anything more than a present moment always vanishing; and now it is over. — Schopenhauer- The Vanity of Existence
Feuerbach urged his readers to acknowledge and accept the irreversibility of their individual mortality so that in doing so they might come to an awareness of the immortality of their species-essence, and thus to knowledge of their true self, which is not the individual person with whom they were accustomed to identify themselves. They would then be in a position to recognize that, while “the shell of death is hard, its kernel is sweet” (GTU 205/20), and that the true belief in immortality is
a belief in the infinity of Spirit and in the everlasting youth of humanity, in the inexhaustible love and creative power of Spirit, in its eternally unfolding itself into new individuals out of the womb of its plenitude and granting new beings for the glorification, enjoyment, and contemplation of itself. (GTU 357/137)
In light of the emphasis placed in his later works on the practical existential needs of the embodied individual subject, it should be noted that during his early idealistic phase Feuerbach was strongly committed to a theoretical ideal of philosophy according to which contemplation of and submersion in God is the highest ethical act of which human beings are capable.
@plaque flagNon-being as being (this isn't intentional) closely aligned to being is a fascinating idea. In this perspective, non-being is not synonymous with nothingness or annihilation but rather represents a state of freedom from the limitations and fluctuations of the material realm. — Existential Hope
Whether true or not about Buddhism, I balk at the idea of the inevitability of being that then must be freed from it. It's my complaint in the other thread. Something is monstrous if the "disturbance" happened from the state of Nirvana. Why the disturbance? Why not Nirvana?
So ensues layers of post-facto reasoning. Here comes that shifty subversive "balance" again :smirk:. — schopenhauer1
@plaque flag. I do not scurry away from a higher state that transcends the flaws of one kind of existence and is yet not utter demolition. — Existential Hope
What is it about these quasi-spiritual beliefs that the world is becoming whilst the core of some higher level of being is being? Why is this such a central theme? Where does this type of thinking originate, philosophically-speaking? Animals don't seem to have a need for this
This needs to be examined that in order for goodness you need some evil. — schopenhauer1
In this perspective, non-being is not synonymous with nothingness or annihilation but rather represents a state of freedom from the limitations and fluctuations of the material realm. — Existential Hope
Why the disturbance? Why not Nirvana?
So ensues layers of post-facto reasoning. Here comes that shifty subversive "balance" again :smirk: — schopenhauer1
:up:he reason the world of becoming is condemned so much throughout the history of Eastern and Western philosophy is a problem of the philosopher's own impotence — Albero
I don't think boredom is a universal problem. It could be that our age is so entertained that it's no longer a problem. Or maybe I'm a lucky eccentric in this regard.This situation seems rotten itself as there is no unmitigated good. That is to say, one cannot just experience good without it somehow having itself a negative consequence (boredom, no longer novel, etc.). — schopenhauer1
Thanks ! Yes I get it now. That's why I was also getting at with my talk of the symbolic realm. — plaque flag
Let me throw in a psychoanalytic theme too. Projection keeps the rat on the wheel. One way to see the wise man is as someone who embraces fantasy -- who realizes that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and cuts out the middle man. There's the meme of the recluse who lives joyfully in the woods in a simple hut, untempted by the vanities of the city, finding enough entertainment in his own wild and yet serene mind, which has incorporated and sublimated the city already. I think of Shakespeare as a great spiritual figure -- as everyone and no one. Some kind of harmonic stasis is maybe achieved, if the body is healthy and safe enough anyway, because the flesh is always the foundation. — plaque flag
Their mind, wild yet serene, becomes a playground where the echoes of the city intertwine and ascend to sublime heights. — Existential Hope
so I guess in Nietzschean fashion you could say that the reason the world of becoming is condemned so much throughout the history of Eastern and Western philosophy is a problem of the philosopher's own impotence-their congenital defect — Albero
He teleports between roles, inhabiting the souls of countless characters, and in that fluidity, he becomes both everyone and no one — Existential Hope
When the flesh is nourished and sheltered, it becomes a fertile ground for the blossoming of tranquility and spiritual pursuit. But even without this good, the mystifying resilience of consciousness persists. — Existential Hope
I had not thought about Shakespeare as a spiritual leader, and yet, it's bizarre that the interpretation did not come to my mind. — Existential Hope
I just see Ayn Rand with a mustache, or perhaps Ayn Rand is Nietzsche with lipstick. — schopenhauer1
I think you have a Nietzsche allergy that blinds you to his worth. No doubt he had some quirks. But I just a thinker by their best moments, and Nietzsche overall is a great example of a daring mind wrestling with the death of god and indeed with the uncertain legacy of Schopenhauer -- who lived to be an old man, relishing the attention he was finally getting. ( I have the Wallace bio of S on the way. It looks great.) — plaque flag
Beautiful line ! Entwining echoes gets it just right, and the synthesis is indeed climbing, greater than the sum of its parts. — plaque flag
Along these lines, we can imagine a person who understands everyone, who can always look into a soul and find something familiar there, something he knows from the inside. Nothing human is alien to Shakespeare. Everywhere he goes, he finds pieces of his own harmonized internal chaos. Most of these pieces are dissonant, finite, and therefore engaged, attached, trying to prove something, sure that their enemy is truly other. Shakespeare's other is Shakespeare. — plaque flag
Good point. It's impressive to what degree material challenges can be overcome if the mind/spirit is developed and trained to maintain morale and control. — plaque flag
I got the idea from Harold Bloom and James Joyce. I often think of the trinity of Jesus, Socrates, and Hamlet/Shakespeare. The third contains the first two perhaps. — plaque flag
Buddhism's central idea of the transience of the world, and the attainment of non-being — schopenhauer1
Animals don't seem to have a need for this. — schopenhauer1
Something is monstrous if the "disturbance" happened from the state of Nirvana. Why the disturbance? — schopenhauer1
Believe it or not, Alan Watts has a popular interpretation of this idea. I tossed it to the oracle who responded: According to Watts, the Divine, which can be understood as the underlying essence of all things, is omnipresent and all-encompassing. However, in order to truly experience and know itself, the Divine must temporarily forget its true nature and engage in the illusion of otherness. This is accomplished through the process of incarnation, where the Divine takes on the form of individual beings and forgets its true nature (cf Plato ‘anamnesis’.) — Wayfarer
I think that Mr Watts was also influenced by Advaita Vedanta. — Existential Hope
And also Zen. — Wayfarer
Mark Watts who has managed his intellectual property since Alan Watts’ untimely death from alcoholism in his 50’s. — Wayfarer
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