KNOWER V DOER

 

QRA

TB - CONSC

It's time to knock consciousness from the magical pedestal on which it sits in some people's understanding of existence. It is literally one of the most idiotic features of our minds, and it even invents fairy tales that it forms the Universe, which, in truth, exists independently from it.

Most other organisms are simpler than us and rarely have the mental capacity to plan or predict the future. They are driven by their instincts to survive and fight for their lives to the end if they are in danger, but when the situation is hopeless, they give up. If they are eaten alive by predators, they accept their fate and don't even try to escape.

Humans are also driven by instincts, of which the need for food or the desire to procreate is critical, but we also have a vast memory in which we can build a representation of the world around us. Thanks to it, we give names to things and ideas. This enables us to manipulate them in our minds so that we know that life will eventually end. We also can override our instincts, and if we didn't evolve to search for the aim in life, we would give up just like these animals that are eaten alive; we would predict that end is inevitable, even if it is years later.

This is why we evolved to have "I". The same part of our brain in which it resides also invents our aims in life and our supposed uniqueness. The sort of questions about consciousness forming the Universe are driven by some interpretations of quantum mechanics in which consciousness plays a role in the collapse of the wave function.

Our brain performs a colossal amount of computations to keep us alive. It controls the blood flow to the brain on a scale of milliseconds. It's challenging to perform calculations necessary for standing on two feet by robots, but our mind performs them on the fly, and we rarely fall. This level of excellence and precision of our subconscious mind compares very poorly to the supposedly magical consciousness. We are often delusional about what is real and what is not. Humans, via their beliefs, live in an alternative reality built on false assumptions of how the world works. We fall prey to the lies of politicians and other mischievous agents. If our subconscious minds made similar mistakes, we would die from not having enough oxygen in our brains or fall standing two feet.

The same part of the brain where our consciousness is located only invents feel-good stories about our agency, uniqueness, and the specialness of our consciousness. The "I" appears when we are still babies when the brain identifies other people as agents in our environment and then realizes it is contained in such a person. Children don't behave differently before and after they acquire a personal identity. They are precisely the same - as cute before and after. Furthermore, the "I" can disappear when we are drunk. There is no visible difference from the outside when it happens. We behave the same to the outside world, but when we wake up the next day, we don't remember what we did.

People with their brain hemispheres separated invent stories and lies with one-half of their brains about why they move the hand to which this hemisphere had no connection via their nervous system. It has also been discovered that we already perform actions a fraction of a second before we "decide" to do something. People who talk to themselves sometimes say words and sentences that they don't realize they are saying until they start paying attention to these words. When we say something longer, we don't consciously decide on each word; we tell everything automatically. When we choose to leave home, we don't deliberately steer each leg to move or hand to open the door, but we go and leave home.

The brutal truth is that we are mere observers of our automatic, robotic selves, and making decisions is an illusion. This also means that consciousness does not form the Universe and doesn't collapse the wave function in quantum mechanics. We evolved to invent these fairy tales, lies, and illusions because they increase our survival due to our higher mental capabilities compared to other organisms. Nevertheless, I feel, and we all should feel, delighted that we have this magnificent chance to be the eyes of the sublime Universe through which it observes itself. I think it's beautiful even though we are only its eyes.

A

We have to entertain the possibility that there is no reason for something existing; or that the split between subject and object is only our name for something equally accidental we call knowledge; or, an even more difficult thought, that while there may be some order to the self and the cosmos, to the microcosm and macrocosm, it is an order that is absolutely indifferent to our existence, and of which we can have only a negative awareness.”
― Eugene Thacker, In the Dust of This Planet: Horror of Philosophy vol. 1

A

QRA 

KK 

KRSNA DEVOTEES SUFFRNG 

Pure devotees of Lord Krishna never suffer on the material platform. Their suffering is not due to Karma. Their so-called apparent suffering is transcendental paramananda. It simply intensifies their love for Krishna.

The suffering of the pure devotees, in separation from Krishna, is the ultimate limit of bliss, bliss millions of times greater than that of impersonal Brahman. Who can describe it without experiencing it firsthand? In this regard, Lord Krishna says

nāhaṁ tu sakhyo bhajato ’pi jantūn bhajāmy amīṣām anuvṛtti-vṛttaye
yathādhano labdha-dhane vinaṣṭe tac-cintayānyan nibhṛto na veda

The reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of My devotees even when they worship Me, O gopīs, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion. They then become like a poor man who has gained some wealth and then lost it, and who thus becomes so anxious about it that they can think of nothing else.- Srimad Bhagavatam 10.32.20

māṁ lubdham ūhadhvam ṛddhau premṇas tāṁ tad-viṣaya-virahaṁ hanta kṛtvāpi vaśmi | yuṣmān vācyaṁ kim iha mayakā māyitāvat-pratīter etad yan me vyasanam asakṛn māṁ ca duḥkhākaroti ||

I desire to make My devotees greedy to attain Me, to make devotees wealthy with the great treasure of love for Me. That is why I arrange the separation of devotees from Me. Some people think I wish to create calamities for My devotees. These complaints bring Me great sorrow.- Gopala Champu 25.24

Thus, there is no question of suffering for pure devotees of Krishna. A sadhaka may, however, suffer due to some traces of Karma still left, but even he gets gradually purified by sincerely and patiently following the practice of devotional service and thus his attachment to Krishna gets intensified amid so-called calamities. This should be considered the mercy of Krishna. One has to be patient and constantly fix his mind on Krishna, not caring for material distress. One who has such a mood will very soon attain the lotus feet of Krishna.

tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk

My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words, and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim. -Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.8

A

A

OBLIGATORY OPTIMISM 

“In a culture that prizes the can-do, self-starter attitude, to be a pessimist is simply to be a complainer – if you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem. To live in such a culture is to constantly live in the shadow of an obligatory optimism, a novel type of coercion that is pathologized early on in child education in the assessment: “Does not like to play with others.”
― Eugene Thacker, Tentacles Longer Than Night: Horror of Philosophy Vol. 3

A

HKHK

Just go on patiently, steadily chanting at least 16 rounds and following the four regulative principles and all of your mental illness problems will evaporate away in due course of time.

A

QRA IN 

RBRTH 

You can reincarnate in the same family but not in the same body….You will be somebody in a future generation, like your own grand-grand child. You can not reincarnate into the same body, but you might be currently living in several timelines of the same life, every time you make a major decision - your life splits and after you all die (maybe at different times) - your Higher Self will review all these timelines. Watch the movie ‘Mr.Nobody” to understand this concept better. So there is no need to redo the same life again, plus your body would never be able to be recreated as any combination of genes is unique, even identical twins are not totally identical…(plus they have different souls)

A

QRA RM  RBRTH 

Nothing to fear about us “losing who we are.” We are always tethered to our higher selves, our guides, our teachers, council members. If one wants to converse with them, they can.

A

Our brains have evolved to keep us alive. They’re really good at being anxious, seeing the negative, and what can go wrong, and really bad at seeing the present moment just as it is.

Anthony Tshering, “How the Concept of Impermanence Can Help Anxiety-Ridden Millennials”

A

LORD VSNU - ACHYUTAM 

Lord Vishnu is called ‘Achyuta’ or ‘Achyutam’ because Achyutam means who is eternal, who is imperishable who is indestructible, who has no birth no death, who is forever present, who can neither be created nor be destroyed, who is infinite.

Achyutam Keshavam Krishna Damodaram Ram Narayanam Janaki Vallabham…🙏

A

“Our own era is one haunted by the shadow of futurity, precisely because there is no future.”
― Eugene Thacker

A

HNMNJI 

Hanuman is indeed considered to be an incarnation of Bhagwan Shiv's Rudra avatar, as per certain beliefs and interpretations. In our Hindu scriptures different traditions and texts may offer varying perspectives on the origins and forms of deities. While Hanuman is predominantly revered as a Vanar and known for his association with Bhagwan Shri Ram some interpretations also connect him to Bhagwan Shiv. It is believed that Hanuman's birth and divine purpose were intertwined with the cosmic play and manifestations of the divine. Ultimately the understanding and devotion towards Hanuman vary among different individuals and schools of thought within Hinduism.

A

The problem in middle life, when the body has reached its climax of power and begins to decline, is to identify yourself, not with the body, which is falling away, but with the consciousness of which it is a vehicle. This is something I learned from myths. What am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light? Or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle?

One of the psychological problems in growing old is the fear of death. People resist the door of death. But this body is a vehicle of consciousness, and if you can identify with the consciousness, you can watch this body go like an old car. There goes the fender, there goes the tire, one thing after another— but it’s predictable. And then, gradually, the whole thing drops off, and consciousness, rejoins consciousness. It is no longer in this particular environment. ~Joseph Campbell

A

WRITING TO OUTSLIVE SLF

"Writing is one of the only ways to outlive yourself. People still read books from hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The author's physical life ended long ago, but their mental life remains alive and meaningful even today."

A

KNOWER V DOER 

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 5 Verse 14

The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature.