By Marjorie Tietjen
What is the true nature of our existence? The "world" seems to have most of us pretty convinced that we are finite creatures with a definite beginning and a final ending. That we are nothing more than a collection of material body parts and uncontrollable animalistic urges. The media today is obviously promoting the baser side of human nature.
Whatever happened to shows such as Leave It To Beaver and Andy Griffith, which emphasized and brought to light man's inherent goodness and dignity? Do we tend to aspire to what is expected of us or to what we expect of ourselves? It seems we no longer have positive....really helpful role models. Actors, athletes and rich corporate executives are touted as figures for us to emulate. Instead of society encouraging good thinking along with kind words and deeds, we are basically conditioned to believe that true success consists of acquiring more money, fame and material goods. And of course, this mindset leads to all the corruption our world seems to be facing. Many of us have been told or feel that the thoughts we entertain really don't count. That we can have hateful revengeful thoughts as long as we don't act them out. Well.....somewhere in the Bible it says...."As a man thinketh in his heart...so is he". In other words our thinking....on many different levels.... definitely affects ourselves and the world we live in. We are the thoughts we hold in our hearts.
I think many of us who already have a few years under our belts often find ourselves thinking or expressing the thought that while our physical bodies are apparently aging, we really don't feel any different inside. If mirrors were not available or if we lost our eyesight we may never even become aware that materially we seem to be growing older. It is only our physical senses which tell us we are aging. Our intuition is whispering that we are eternal.
Do you ever feel as though who you are....your essence, conciousness, or soul, could never be extinguished? Well, maybe we all have these feelings because these feelings express reality. However, society does not encourage this view. We are conditioned to disregard these natural, universal feelings or "knowings". We are often told by science that "nature" provides these feelings for us to help us survive. Is nature an impersonal uncaring force or is nature another word for God? If nature is an unintelligent uncaring force, why would it matter to nature whether we had any survival mechanisms at all?
I think we need to pay close attention to these stirrings inside which seem to be inherent in all of us.....and take them seriously. Why should we believe others over what our intuition tells us is true?
Taking the aging aspect one step further.....modern physics and many great religions provide the idea that there is no time....at least not time as we know it. We all know the calendar is a manmade device, but that we seem to need it to function in a material world.
How can the infinite ever begin or end? We are part of the infinite universe. Is conciousness a "thing" that can die? Can we see conciousness? Does conciousness age?
It seems to me that greed , fear and all the "evil" acts which are caused by them.....have their root in the thinking that this material life is it...that we go no further so we might as well make the best of it while we can and work very hard to accumulate wealth and fame. When this is our focus....how can we expect our higher qualities or nature to be expressed?
We don't have to accept the false mesmeric picture of man which tells us we are nothing more than organs, blood and bones subject to evil deeds, decrepitude, sorrow and death. Maybe if we all try to see and "know" the Truth that our true nature is Spiritual.....inherently good, whole and beautiful that it will become more evident in proportion to our belief. As quantum physics is telling us.....essentially there is no matter and our experience is but an objectification of our conciousness.
"Ye shall know the Truth ( the truth about man's spiritual nature) and the Truth shall make you free." Christ Jesus
What is the true nature of our existence? The "world" seems to have most of us pretty convinced that we are finite creatures with a definite beginning and a final ending. That we are nothing more than a collection of material body parts and uncontrollable animalistic urges. The media today is obviously promoting the baser side of human nature.
Whatever happened to shows such as Leave It To Beaver and Andy Griffith, which emphasized and brought to light man's inherent goodness and dignity? Do we tend to aspire to what is expected of us or to what we expect of ourselves? It seems we no longer have positive....really helpful role models. Actors, athletes and rich corporate executives are touted as figures for us to emulate. Instead of society encouraging good thinking along with kind words and deeds, we are basically conditioned to believe that true success consists of acquiring more money, fame and material goods. And of course, this mindset leads to all the corruption our world seems to be facing. Many of us have been told or feel that the thoughts we entertain really don't count. That we can have hateful revengeful thoughts as long as we don't act them out. Well.....somewhere in the Bible it says...."As a man thinketh in his heart...so is he". In other words our thinking....on many different levels.... definitely affects ourselves and the world we live in. We are the thoughts we hold in our hearts.
I think many of us who already have a few years under our belts often find ourselves thinking or expressing the thought that while our physical bodies are apparently aging, we really don't feel any different inside. If mirrors were not available or if we lost our eyesight we may never even become aware that materially we seem to be growing older. It is only our physical senses which tell us we are aging. Our intuition is whispering that we are eternal.
Do you ever feel as though who you are....your essence, conciousness, or soul, could never be extinguished? Well, maybe we all have these feelings because these feelings express reality. However, society does not encourage this view. We are conditioned to disregard these natural, universal feelings or "knowings". We are often told by science that "nature" provides these feelings for us to help us survive. Is nature an impersonal uncaring force or is nature another word for God? If nature is an unintelligent uncaring force, why would it matter to nature whether we had any survival mechanisms at all?
I think we need to pay close attention to these stirrings inside which seem to be inherent in all of us.....and take them seriously. Why should we believe others over what our intuition tells us is true?
Taking the aging aspect one step further.....modern physics and many great religions provide the idea that there is no time....at least not time as we know it. We all know the calendar is a manmade device, but that we seem to need it to function in a material world.
How can the infinite ever begin or end? We are part of the infinite universe. Is conciousness a "thing" that can die? Can we see conciousness? Does conciousness age?
It seems to me that greed , fear and all the "evil" acts which are caused by them.....have their root in the thinking that this material life is it...that we go no further so we might as well make the best of it while we can and work very hard to accumulate wealth and fame. When this is our focus....how can we expect our higher qualities or nature to be expressed?
We don't have to accept the false mesmeric picture of man which tells us we are nothing more than organs, blood and bones subject to evil deeds, decrepitude, sorrow and death. Maybe if we all try to see and "know" the Truth that our true nature is Spiritual.....inherently good, whole and beautiful that it will become more evident in proportion to our belief. As quantum physics is telling us.....essentially there is no matter and our experience is but an objectification of our conciousness.
"Ye shall know the Truth ( the truth about man's spiritual nature) and the Truth shall make you free." Christ Jesus
You are a philosopher. It is so very odd that as we age and we feel and see our bodies age our minds feel eternally young. Very interesting analysis you give. It does make one ponder.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. Would you please post the source for the Lancet article you cite.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't know how to find something this old. However,this study was cited in Science and Health With key To The Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy which has sold millions of copies since the 1800's. I would think it is a legitmate article. Please let me know if there is some way to document something that long ago or how to find the reference.
ReplyDelete