life

TomGa wrote:

Perhaps the absence of self doesn't have to mean the absence of meaning.

It's the opposite: the presence of the self has no meaning, other than mischief.

True meaning 'arrives' when the self 'departs'.

It's a non-verbal meaning. Putting it into words makes it trivial.

Tom, Speaking, of an earlier referenced, {as I recall}, 'being stuck' on a point of discussion; For myself, I Really don't understand, how you regard yourself, as Not having a measure of 'selfhood' if you will!

If it's because you think, your 'free will' is Non-existent; That's an erroneous conclusion, even 'on it's face' <-{expression}. Since, everyone is confronted, with multiple minor decisions daily, {even hourly}; And, guess who, ultimately decides which way you'll pick!? ..{it begins with the letter 's'}.

As for the other aspect, of Life being an illusion. The fact that Reality, is composed of many-Many different components, or parts.. {including 'vibrating' atoms}, does Not diminish, 'imho' our role-in-Life meaning; Or what 'roads' we chose to take!

..No more, than the fact, that any 'car' cannot hypothetically, Not, call itself a car, because the 'ignition'..{our sentient mind, analogy}, objects, to being labeled as such! o:

Descartes in reverse, i think, therefore i don't exist.

and if i don't exist, all my problems are instantly solved and life becomes full of meaning because i never existed.

JiuJitsuShihTsu wrote:It's

Descartes in reverse, i think, therefore i don't exist.

No, Descartes in reverse is: 'I don't think, therefore I don't exist'.

'Word games' aside - Since we All obviously contemplate or 'think' about a given action, before undertaking it.. 'JJST' {abbreviation}, is correct, 'imho'!

if tom doesn't exist, it is just thoughts thinking themselves in "his" empty head. yep! we are onto something! the mystery of existence is being unravelled! we are not far away now!

lol..ha.. Good one! .. And, to celebrate; I used the more technically analytical part of my 'brain', to figure out, how to 'highlight' your previous statement! ..{1st time, on this website!}.

They're not just word games. If the mind is silent, does one exist? Find out for yourself if a soul exists, without projecting it by your own tricky thinking; be free of projections and find out.

When the mind is quiet all projections end.

No. If thoughts exist, Tom exists as well. 'Emptiness' is another thought. The head is not empty if it's full of thoughts 'floating around' through it.

'The empty head' is just another projection.

hi Stolen, can you believe that fruitbasket that tom likes chatting up is actually responding to my posts! lol

In counter-point - When a car 'motor'..{or engine}, isn't 'running'..{as in 'silent'}, does the 'motor' exist? ..D-o-h?! .. As for the human 'soul' currently indwelling our bodies, {of which the human 'aura' seen in the 'infra-red' spectrum, hints at}, Does the fact, that in our paradigm, we Only see the physical body.. Make our 'soul'/'spirit' of zero consequence!? ..{rhetorical}..

'Btw' 'Out-of-body' testimonies, on "YouTube" are quite numerous!; Though, in your own 'denial' paradigm, 'troy'; I don't doubt, that those 'experiences' would merely be illusiary 'projections' based, on Wanting to believe in something, over-reachingly, Grand! .. N-O-T! ..

Wrong comparison. You are simply speculating, projecting what happens when the mind is free from projections with...another projection. Imagining what happens when the mind is quiet doesn't cut it: it must actually be silent.

Which means that my mind is nothing but thoughts. But one can only find that out when it is actually quiet. The one can see that nothing else exists, everything else was an illusion: soul, decision-maker, spirit, all that. The field is completely empty, no one in command, no one in control, no entity. Total peace.

 Let's open it up!