tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4019242355400566406.post7547270055669676556..comments2023-05-20T04:57:44.328-07:00Comments on Seda's Ramblings: Original Sin?Sedahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13992966189983263290noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4019242355400566406.post-15884995661225231502009-03-08T16:37:00.000-07:002009-03-08T16:37:00.000-07:00Good point, First Domino! We are perfect, yet noth...Good point, First Domino! We are perfect, yet nothing in our world is perfect!Sedahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13992966189983263290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4019242355400566406.post-3914400918375310012009-03-02T16:16:00.000-08:002009-03-02T16:16:00.000-08:00As for the perfect world, I'm not sure I would lik...<I>As for the perfect world, I'm not sure I would like that. Where do you find meaning in a perfect world? One of the great universal quests for humanity is transcendence. How do you transcend from perfection?</I><BR/><BR/>Wow! What wisdom! <BR/><BR/>We are "perfection" itself, but that which we call "imperfection," is not as "imperfect" as it seems.<BR/><BR/>It, too, serves a perfect purpose.<BR/><BR/>NamasteThe First Domino דומינוhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15538497651318887097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4019242355400566406.post-12963386766117448042009-03-02T16:09:00.000-08:002009-03-02T16:09:00.000-08:00"The only thing that gives our choices any deep si..."The only thing that gives our choices any deep significance is the fact that none of this will last. Awareness of mortality gives relationships an urgency, makes our choices matter."<BR/><BR/>I agree that "death" gives Life an urgency that it wouldn't have otherwise.<BR/><BR/>I also see "death" as an illusion, since I can't possibly believe in a Self that will ultimately cease to be.<BR/><BR/>Yet, I am aware that my relative life on this planet will some day come to a screeching halt, and I use this awareness to experience <I>ultimate reality</I> (the ongoingness of life) in ways that would be impossible to experience it otherwise.<BR/><BR/><I>"What constitutes a good life is clearly spelled out: self-knowledge, duty, responsibility, compassion, acceptance of loss, preparation for death."</I><BR/><BR/>I don't disagree with this en total, but I view it slightly different than what the author intended, or had in mind.<BR/><BR/>Self knowledge: Who and What I Am is already established. I can't change that. I Am the Image and Likeness of Love, and nothing else, appearances to the contrary.<BR/><BR/>(Some would disagree, and that's fine. I'm merely offering another perspective.)<BR/><BR/>True Self knowledge can only be achieved through experiences, as I relate to something else--That Which I'm Not [All That That Is Not Love]--giving me the opportunity to experience every aspect of Who I Am, let's say, for example, an experience of generosity because I meet someone in need, patience because I meet a situation that is emotionally taxing, caring because I meet someone who has been abandoned.<BR/><BR/>Duty: I'm obligated to no one outside of mySelf, but mySelf extends well beyond the me that I seem to be, to include All.<BR/><BR/>There is only One Self and that Self includes All Other seemingly disparate selves. <I>There's Only One of Us Here</I>.<BR/><BR/>Responsibility: Every Act is a Self-defining act. I Am always responsible, whether I choose to believe that I'm answerable for a decision or an act.<BR/><BR/>When my head doesn't answer, Life does. What goes out comes back. As you sow you reap, to put it biblically. <BR/><BR/>Compassion: pity or remorse assumes that there's a reason to feel that way, that a certain act has caused another pain, or loss.<BR/><BR/>Compassion should lead to a restoration of that which appeared to be have been lost, and an opportunity to experience That Which We Are.<BR/><BR/>Jesus showed his compassion through an act of restoration. <BR/><BR/>Compassion is That Which I Am always, but now I get to experience it, because now I'm confronted with a loss of one sort of another.<BR/><BR/>I see Need (that which comes with a sense of a loss) as an illusion; Yet, I get to use it to experience Who and What I Am.<BR/><BR/>Acceptance of loss: Only in that it might bring my natural fulfillment, completion, and sufficiency into sharper relief, as something that I might experience.<BR/><BR/>In Reality I can't lose anything, because I Need Nothing.<BR/><BR/>Preparation for death: Only in the sense that it prepares me for Life. The notion of death allows me to experience Life more fully, to savor its sweet juices, its succulence.<BR/><BR/>Death is an illusion.<BR/><BR/><I>"I tend to see behavior as harmful or fulfilling, rather than sinful, evil, or good."</I> Seda<BR/><BR/>You're wiser than you know!<BR/><BR/><I>The best lives seem to be full of contemplation, solitude, and self-examination;</I><BR/><BR/>I would agree to a point. Solitude for me is a going within, not to examine the Self, because I know the Self That I Am, but to seek out the "silence" the "stillness".<BR/><BR/>I'm not here to discover anything, because I know All There Is to Know. It's not knowing that I seek, but experience.<BR/><BR/>Ignorance is an illusion.<BR/><BR/>I'm here to create and recreate mySelf through the act of choosing and deciding Who and What it Is I choose to be Now (in this eternal moment) from all the many choices before Me, and to experience That.<BR/><BR/>Seda, my purpose was to share another perspective, not to critique the author. I hope my words came across that way.<BR/><BR/>NamasteThe First Domino דומינוhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15538497651318887097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4019242355400566406.post-56862704460777941002009-02-21T08:45:00.000-08:002009-02-21T08:45:00.000-08:00I had never thought of original sin in the way tha...I had never thought of original sin in the way that Gatto puts it, but in that light, it <I>is</I> liberating. I still don't really believe in it as a concept, but perhaps that's just semantics. I also find the word "sin" to be vague and relatively useless. What is sin to one person is not to another. Sometimes identical behavior is harmful in one case and healing in another. I think using "harmful" and "healing" provides a lot more clarity to our choices than "good" and "evil" or "sin."<BR/><BR/>However, I don't suppose the actual language used is all that important, when it helps us to take responsibility for our actions and choices.<BR/><BR/>As for the perfect world, I'm not sure I would like that. Where do you find meaning in a perfect world? One of the great universal quests for humanity is transcendence. How do you transcend from perfection?Sedahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13992966189983263290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4019242355400566406.post-11976065371552662002009-02-20T12:44:00.000-08:002009-02-20T12:44:00.000-08:00This morning I read a chapter in a great book on o...This morning I read a chapter in a great book on original sin and so it was funny to see your post today about the same topic. The book is "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller. He says that most people look at original sin as a negative for Christianity, but it really allows a person to be free.<BR/><BR/>He told the story of a man at an AA meeting who was orating on why nothing was his fault. He was "trapped in his need to justify himself." A man leaned over to the author and said, "I used to feel that way too, before I achieved low self-esteem." Once we realize our sin, we are free to live outside of ourselves. <BR/><BR/>I hope that example was not too out of context for you to get what the author Keller is saying. Sorry if it was. Maybe if you are in a bookstore sometime, you can pick it up and read chapter ten. It was very interesting and over my head; so that would be right up your alley Seda. haha. It is basically a pretty deep philosophical book that talks about people's thoughts on why God could not exist, or why He has to exist. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, I wish that we had not fallen from grace and did live in a perfect world where we were all able to intimately worship God for the Greatness of who He is. But, as you said, this life is not all there is... Someday, according to the Bible, every knee will bow before Him. <BR/><BR/>Sorry if I sound a little fanatical for a blog post, but I am sure you understand the hope that I have in Christ.<BR/>Talk to you soon Seda.David and Sarah Carrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14387355127535702980noreply@blogger.com