> Sodom wrote:
> >
> > Marie Foster wrote:
> >
> > Everyone hallucinates, and somewhat often. It is more a
> > question of severity and personality.
>
> I will have to give this some thought. My own personal *vision* of
> life
> is that there is no separation between things. Separation is just the
>
> pattern we have created to keep from bumping into trees as has been
> mentioned in other threads. The first step is to divide in two as
> this
> is the easiest division. This tends to explain the prevalence of
> dualism to me. How hallucinations fit into this is interesting
> because
> it is part of the thread of our desire to arrive at simplicity by
> continuing to divide things into smaller and smaller separations.
>
> I totally dismiss non-rational process. I have seen NO evidence of
> this
> in my life. When questioned everyone has reasons for actions. They
> may
> not be good reasons, but they exist. It is our preoccupation with
> trying to *force* our minds to accept the contradictions that we
> perceive that forces this separation.
>
> I can not be angry with Brett when he misreads my post because I am
> Brett and he is me at a very fundamental level.
>
> My belief system is founded in my Quaker background, my long time
> practice of Buddhist philosophy, ACIM, and my lifetime interest in all
>
> things scientific. (My friends refer to me as a Zen Christian geek.)
> :0)
>
> All I can say about it is that whenever I am confronted with events
> that
> create an imbalance in my body (and remember I do not believe that
> there
> is any separation between mind and body) I can bring it back into
> balance by collapsing any separation that my body has created to cope
> with the event. It works for me...
>
> BTW I have visited your web site. It is very interesting. I also
> have
> a site, but I have not listed its URL here yet as I am in the process
> of
> taking it apart and putting it back together again.
>
> Take care. The weekend is almost here!
>
> Marie
Marie,
we seem to agree on many points. I do not believe that there is a
mind/body difference either, one is a process of the other. There is no
doubt that Buddhist philosophy (and it is a philosophy or more correctly
a "way of living" - not a religion) is a powerful tool in understanding
self. I am not Buddhist, but have studied it quite a bit and am quite
fond of it. I do think it has some of the same traps to objectivity, but
at least it is more benign. It seems that if you have to "force" your
mind to do something, it is a mix for trouble. In my experience, logic
is natural. It happens because my mind won't accept that which makes no
sense to it. Like some of you, my mind is like a vacuum that is stuck in
the on position. I take in all I can, use the tools of logic to decide
what is relevant, store the rest for use later or as appropriate. Of
course, I might just be full of it too.
Sodom