Deep(er) Thinking

[PoetPhilosopher]

I opened my mind enough to begin what I consider deeper thought, and I had a question...

Is it possible to form a conceptualization of utopian paradise using our senses while on Earth, and not just "thinking about it with no feeling / faked emotion"? How?

 

[Altfish]

I opened my mind enough to begin what I consider deeper thought, and I had a question...

Is it possible to form a conceptualization of utopian paradise using our senses while on Earth, and not just "thinking about it with no feeling / faked emotion"? How?

Drugs

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Drugs

Haha.

Any other way?

 

[Sunstone]

I suspect concepts of heaven were originally derived from mystical experiences, such as was had by the Buddha when he attained to nirvana. Such experiences are often enough spontaneous and come even to those who do nothing to bid them come. It's easy to imagine someone a few thousand years ago having just such an experience and then going on to describe it as other-worldly, etc.

 

[Sunstone]

Haha.

Any other way?

A mystical experience. There about a dozen or more sorts of mystical experiences, but one of them might qualify as something akin to what you mean by "paradise".

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I suspect concepts of heaven were originally derived from mystical experiences, such as was had by the Buddha when he attained to nirvana. Such experiences are often enough spontaneous and come even to those who do nothing to bid them come. It's easy to imagine someone a few thousand years ago having just such an experience and then going on to describe it as other-worldly, etc.

Cool. When reading stories of such things happening to people... is there a certain string of events that has to take place to become um, "enlightened"?

 

[The Hammer]

Cool. When reading stories of such things happening to people... is there a certain string of events that has to take place to become um, "enlightened"?

In my experience asking what the path is, is the first step on the path. As for what events and things need to take place: well it is different for everyone, for some it may be a hellish landscape they must conquer, and others find "enlightenment", or as Sunstone says Mystical experience, more sudden.

Practice mindfulness as often as comfortable, and in a method that engages a couple of different senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, movement).

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I'm a little private in some ways, definitely not all, but I'm ready to share a greater piece of myself...

My close friends have noticed a change in me recently. I still sometimes experience sadness, but I float on cloud 9 a lot. I've been asked whether I'm on the wacky stuff, if you know what I mean. The answer is nope. I've asked them if they thought I had degraded in personality or morals - they say no, that I'm fun to talk to, a bit "loose" in personality, and not dumb. That they prefer someone open and bizarre. I have been working hard at becoming more open-minded, pretty much make it my whole ideology now.

 

[Sunstone]

Cool. When reading stories of such things happening to people... is there a certain string of events that has to take place to become um, "enlightened"?

I have yet to hear of a method or technique that is guaranteed to induce a mystical experience. The best you can do, it seems, is increase the odds you will have one -- and perhaps meditation is best for that. Mindfulness, as the Hammer calls it.

There are many people who say various drugs induce mystical experiences, and I believe they are partly correct. But neither I nor some prominent mystics think drugs are a good route to mystical experiences -- for various reasons. In my view, I don't meet many people who have taken that route who show the same long-term alterations in their behavior as do most "natural" mystics. The tendency seems to be to backslide into the same mess you were in before. Perhaps your mileage would vary though.

 

[Deeje]

I opened my mind enough to begin what I consider deeper thought, and I had a question...

Is it possible to form a conceptualization of utopian paradise using our senses while on Earth, and not just "thinking about it with no feeling / faked emotion"? How?

Conceptualizing a utopian paradise on earth is the only concept I have. Man was originally placed in such a paradise and it was intended to be their permanent home. I have no desire to live anywhere else....do you?

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Conceptualizing a utopian paradise on earth is the only concept I have. Man was originally placed in such a paradise and it was intended to be their permanent home. I have no desire to live anywhere else....do you?

Yes.

 

[Deeje]

Yes.

Where would be better than living with loved ones in beautiful surroundings with peaceful cooperative people united in their love for their Creator and each other......never having to fear pain, suffering, old age, sickness or death. With no crime, no war, no hate, or conflicts......sounds good to me.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Where would be better than living with loved ones in beautiful surroundings with peaceful cooperative people united in their love for their Creator and each other......never having to fear pain, suffering, old age, sickness or death. With no crime, no war, no hate, or conflicts......sounds good to me.

Potentially, my heaven is 50 prevent unlocking nuggets of wisdom in this life. The other 50 percent is an afterlife - though, our concepts of afterlife may be ever so slightly different.

 

[Deeje]

Potentially, my heaven is 50 prevent unlocking nuggets of wisdom in this life. The other 50 percent is an afterlife - though, our concepts of afterlife may be ever so slightly different.

Nuggets of wisdom are very desirable....but can I ask where your concept of the afterlife comes from?

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Nuggets of wisdom are very desirable....but can I ask where your concept of the afterlife comes from?

Worldview: Pantheism
Treatment of the afterlife: Christian Universalism
What heaven is actually like: Not sure. But I'm skeptical of the Bible interpretation.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Furthermore, me believing in the evolution of language, I'm just going to additionally define my religion as Progressivism because it means more to me than my concept of God. Though I'll get grief for calling a Philosophical idea a religion.

 

[Deeje]

Worldview: Pantheism
Treatment of the afterlife: Christian Universalism
What heaven is actually like: Not sure. But I'm skeptical of the Bible interpretation.

What makes you think heaven is a destination for humans? Where is heaven, and what will people do there?

Why do we think that life has to be lived somewhere else?

What is your concept of God?

 

[LightofTruth]

I opened my mind enough to begin what I consider deeper thought, and I had a question...

Is it possible to form a conceptualization of utopian paradise using our senses while on Earth, and not just "thinking about it with no feeling / faked emotion"? How?

The apostle John was invited to "come and see" when a door was opened in heaven. And what he saw were angels and immortalized saints worshiping God and saying "holy, holy, holy..."

 

[SalixIncendium]

Cool. When reading stories of such things happening to people... is there a certain string of events that has to take place to become um, "enlightened"?

In the simplest terms, a mystical experience may be realized by attaining a state of consciousness where the mind is devoid of thought and attachment.

 

[shunyadragon]

I opened my mind enough to begin what I consider deeper thought, and I had a question...

Is it possible to form a conceptualization of utopian paradise using our senses while on Earth, and not just "thinking about it with no feeling / faked emotion"? How?

I believe this is possible for a utopian paradise, but the reality of the fallible nature of humanity gets in the way of bearing fruit.