I'd like your thoughts on this.....

The title was actually somewhat contradictory considering the theme of my post but hey......

I'm really just looking for people with the same outlook on life as i do....

Ever since i was a small child i have always been against the idea of taking advice from others. When i was growing up i would get incredibly frustrated with people expecting me to take their words onboard. 5 years ago i abandoned the world of philosophy having decided that whilst it makes for great "brain fodder" it solves nothing. The time for banishing Kantism was many, many years ago - people are still ignorantly debating it and doing nothing. I had too many conversations with folk pertaining to the greatness of Nietzsche and yet they all missed his point completely. I have always followed my own reasoning.

About a year ago i found myself in a debate with someone (a muslim, thought that is irrelevant) who harboured extremely anti-semitic notions. After some research on the topic (and deciding that this person was wrong) i, like many others, started to read-up on 9/11, the financial system, NWO, Sumeria, 2012 etc.

It is clear to me now that the only way forward is a spiritual journey. This in istelf poses its problems. To me - consulting a spiritual guru, buddha, priest, rabbi etc is merely subjecting yourself to top-down organisation. If everything is within you (i.e. within everyone) then surely you can help no-one but yourself, surely everyone must acheive this progression by themselves? Surely a book written by a guru will contain techniques, rationale and mindsets that are helpful only to the writer?

I apologise for the poor grammar and lack of vocabulary. I've spent 9 hours on a plane contemplating this and now i need some sleep!

Kindest Regards,
Joey

PS - this is a nonsence post essentially, the ramblings of a discontented twit who should probably pay more attention to "real life" i.e. football and beer. Skunkworks anyone? This is my first post (long time reader).

Hi Joeymartin! Welcome to ATS!!

I read your post, and I have to say that life is a mixture of learning and firsthand experience. I feel advice is always welcomed, but, has to be analyzed by our own experiences and adjusted accordingly.
You sit in school for 12 years to learn the basics you'll need to continue in a productive manner. Then, you take all that intellegence you've gained and apply it to the life you lead. As you do this, you gain experience and wisdom, making future experiences easier to deal with. Life continues tto be a decision-making process, therefore adding new wisdoms.

Life is a perpetual problem and you have to solve it. Fortunately, we are being prepared to solve it with every minute we are awake.

My take,
Cuhail

Hey, welcome to ATS!

The wondering is what life is all about. It's what makes us human. You don't need a guru to do it, the Truth lies within you. It seems you already know this so you are WAY ahead of millions of sheep.

I am quite sure you will find members on ATS with similar philosophies to your own and many who will challenge your beliefs. Again, it's what makes life so wonder-full.

And yours was NOT a nonsense post.

Your 'ramblings' are most clear to me. Well put and well said for anyone on an airbus for 9 hrs. Having been on this planet for 44 yrs I find my current reality and sense of reality offshift of late. Or more appropriately since 911.
Welcome to ATS. I am quite sure your contributions will be most notable.

That you have spent 9 hours thinking on this and have came to no clear conclusion seems to point out some indecisiveness about you.

I believe that even if i were to agree with you, it would not be enough.

You need to find the truth for yourself, others can help you along the way, but they can't do it for you.

EDIT: It is possible for one to find his own way - for if it were not the teachings would not be there in the first place.

Living is learning.

[edit on 3-11-2007 by Throbber]

reply to post by joeymartin


First, welcome aboard. Please continue to share your thoughts. We're all here trying to figure out something, although that something could be unique to each of us. I believe some writer said somewhere, "The destination of every traveler is always himself". Or maybe it was me. At this point, anything's possible.

But don't get caught up in a false dichotomy like you have to choose between the spiritual or beer & football. The only thing that might surpass the spirituality of beer & football is beer & basketball. And before Knight went to Texas Tech, it wasn't even close. [Okay, maybe throw fishing in there, too].

Oh yeah, the rambling twit role is taken. I claimed it a couple of years ago.

I though of saying welcome, but if you say you've been a long time reader, then i think I'd be quite wrong.


I too believe that we can and personally must achieve life by personal reasoning, or experiencing. I follow this rule.

I think a lot alone, trying to understand, to create, to imagine, and it has brought nothing bad to me. Maybe some misunderstandings, but nothing pass that. I recognize that I've reached a point were nothing anyone says, I'll take as absolute truth. Quite annoying, actually, but its for the better.


One of the strange thing that have happened to me, is that nothing seems real. I mean, i still have the feeling to understand reality, and realise were it is, but real and surreal have merged so much, that it is sometimes hard to focus.


I believe everyone is very intelligent. Only some people use it better than others.


I think you're doing the right thing. But don't throw others thoughts away. Think about them, and you'll find some of them are helpful. But not all.

Great post. Im also new here. I remember many years ago looking into Eastern philosophy like buddism etc. I remember reading a passage in a Daoist book that basically said 'do what ever you want and do whats right for you'. The quote was a lot more poetic, but that was the general message I took from it. Since that day I only look at different ideas and take in whats right for me, never falling for or following anything I dont like. Its only been the last year or so for me that I 'woke up' and eventually I found this site.

I agree with Joaoa when it comes to the thruthfulness of what people say. But, I also think that civilization was built on the ability to learn from others. It is also just about weeding out the stuff that is just non-scence. Life is much more difficult without the experience and wisdom that others can provide, as Cuhail mentioned.

Let me tell you what you need to do...


Ok just kidding. welcome to ATS

You know, I have some of these same thoughts, so many people say what I should think, most of the time it is things I already resolved or have different experiences so they don't apply, but once in awhile someone will say something really profound and simple, and I get to integrate it into who I am.

I have rarely read philosophy or science or scholarly religious books. I find many people read these books, then just take what defends what they want to believe and use it for self rationalization of their beliefs. If you need justification for an action that bothers you, nothing is better then some acclaimed writer telling you "its the way it is."

What I have picked up I usual remember, but it seems when ever I have a need or question something I find the answers really quickly, its really odd, and I chalk this up to a spiritual thing, but it is like the most complicated questions don't seem to stump me very long. If it bothers me it seems God steps in and leads me to an answer that solves the conundrum. Others that are just curiosities pop up and get answered sometimes years later, but its really odd.

So many philosophers seem to teach by raising the value of the self over others or God. Most frustrate me because I can't discuss their points when reading a book like I can here.

It's good to know your philosophy and it's important figures, but I think that knowledge eventually closes the mind. Instead of thinking for yourself, (often times) you wind up quoting what someone *else* had to say about this or that.

The only thing I know for sure, is that whatever answers we may seek lie within. It's an unfortunate aspect of human nature that forces us to learn things "The Hard Way".

Telling another person that getting hit by a truck is painful has proven to be a waste of time - in my honest opinion. Only by finding out themselves will they listen (usually to something they've known all along), so perhaps the true wisdom of helping others is to say nothing..?

*shrug*

I too, am new here, and have recently taken up eastern philosophies...and have come to my own profound conclusions as well. The point beieg, is that what profound conclusions Ive come to could NOT have come from someone else. It had to "dawn on me" personally, and from deep within.

[edit on 5-11-2007 by guavas]

Regardless of what tradition we're discussing, be it Eastern mysticism or Western Christianity, I happen to agree with the O.P. to a point...spiritual matters are settled on an individual basis, whether we're discussing your karma, or your standing before God Almighty at the last judgment. As the poem goes, "I am the Master of my Fate, the Captain of my Soul".

That said, any good Captain can benefit from a set of maps...or a rutter, to use a more accurate metaphor. Philosophical / theological books can provide guidance...the words of other people who have 'been there and done that' can provide wisdom, just as a rutter provides landmarks and sailing directions...but you still have to plot your own course, Captain.