Aquila ka Hecate

..and mine.

I didn't think I needed another reason to despise Aussie men.

You've just given it to me-thanks.

andy_d

Aquila ka Hecate: pointless, harsh and uncalled-for.

Why tell him your "despise" him just for voicing his opinion? So what if you do? Keep it to yourself, please.

emotional

Let him keep it to himself, please. Pointless, harsh and uncalled-for.

andy_d

Er, would not the last line tend to indicate that it was firmly toungue-in-cheek?

emotional

There are many ways of interpreting the Bible.

Infidelettante

There is a way of understanding her abilities that does not require an after life or reincarnation. There can be no after life because there is no soul to move on after death to heaven or to be reincarnated. There is, however a soul. It is the one soul we all share. Rather than there being a multiplicity of souls each inhabiting a body there is one soul with a multiplicity of bodies.

The material realm is the body of the one soul. The one soul without matter is impotent. Matter without the one soul is inanimate. As we are material beings we are all connected through the one soul and not only to one another but to all things. Each life leaves its impression in the one soul. Those who are so tuned can read those impressions. The impression appears to us as a past life, as indeed it is. It is not a life the reader has lived but another life impressed into the one soul.

So you see, she may have an ability to read the impressions in the one soul and yet have no direct contact with persons in some after life. Materiality is Mother Gods greatest gift to her children but we are only gifted with it once. What we did and who we were will remain in the one soul and through it we can learn many things about existence and life. But, we have only one life and what we do with it and how we use it will go on after us. Live it fully. Live it well. Others are watching.

JT

triplew00t

I like that idea JT. I'm starting to have alot of affinity to a certian type of Taoism. It allows for my belief in her ability and my acceptance of energy flow and manipulation and the natural flow of the world without demanding a belief in an afterlife or gods. I find it refreshing, offering just what I need right now. I may, and probably will, again change my mind. But for now, an atheistic, non-afterlife Taoism is the best for me. In it, our consciousness is animated by energy, Ch'i... but that dissipates at death as well. The components go back to their origin. We are a bucket of sensations, energies, matter and memories. The sensations and memories are bound to end at death, for us atleast, but just as the matter slowly disintegrates, so does the energy form of 'us'. At the end of it all, we are completely redistributed to form new life. Our actions effecting the whole world, our matter and our energy giving birth to new life.

A somewhat appeased Nero

Aquila ka Hecate

Err..andy_d, did you not look at where I live?



Or maybe you don't know-Aussies and Safricans are traditionally rivals in all matters, since we play rugby and cricket at about the same level.(ducks barrage of oranges )

You talk about tongue in cheek!

Sorry, triplew00t for derailing your thread a bit!

Next time I'll use a big cheesey-grin-smiley, OK?

andy_d

Actually, i'm a Kiwi

I just thought "despise" was a bit of a strong word and thought you were being serious. My apologies.

Oh, the joys of a text-based medium...


Wouldn't that be a form of reincarnation? There would be a continuity between the death of one person and the birth of another.

triplew00t

I'm more Taoist (see my other posts in this forum on half and half Taoism, et al), so I view what he terms the universal soul in more of a way of impersonal energy (Ch'i if you will). I see it as reincarnation, only to the extent that what made me, makes new life. My matter decomposes slowly and feeds new lifeforms. My actions continue on in an unending chain of cause and effect (ala Chaos Theory, aka Karma ), and my energy (not physical energy in this case, but lifeforce Ch'i) dissipates and flows back into the world to animate and effect more life. This energy itself is ultimately unchanging but it can hold residues of what it touches/experiences for a time. In the end however, I believe that in the lack of new experiences it returns to its neutral state, of balanced energy. We are a composition of opposing forces. Yin and Yang, matter and spirit, good and evil, dark and light. Our actions are a variation of these. At death, our energy dissipates slowly, the conflicting components dissolving back to a balanced equalibrium (though in the best case, one keeps them balanced during life as well).

As for the matter that composes our body, ala Chinese elemental theory, it goes back to the 5 elements in the same fashion. Fire is the (physical) energy that flows through us and powers our bodies. It returns to power others. Metal is the bones that make up our stuctures. It disintegrates and goes to build others. Earth is the minerals that keep us going. It returns to what it came from to support others. Wood is the carbon-matter that we live off of and that our flesh and organs are composed of. It decomposes as well, feeding other organisms. Water is the (obviously) water that cools our bodies, expels waste and flows through our veins. It goes back to the hydrogen cycle.

Just my view, but as such, is extremely important to atleast one person

A satisfied Nero