So what?

What difference does it make to you if the universe is cyclic or if it was spontaneously created out of nothing 14 billion years ago? Or if God created it six thousand years ago?

What difference does it make to you, in your life, if life started on Earth because aliens planted life spores here or if it was formed spontaneously in the sea somewhere?

Neuroscientists and Buddhists say that the self is an illusion. So what? Who cares? I mean, isn't everything an illusion? The material world isn't really material; it consists of mysterious electromagnetic fields, electron clouds, energy, and God knows what.

We are here, and we have to figure out how to survive, how to treat our friends and family, our neighbors, the animals around us, nature, and our planet. This is what is important.

Suppose you are a rich man, a billionaire. And the only thing you can think of to do with your money is to invest it in the stock market to get more money. Maybe you buy a mansion and fill it with art. At the same time, 150 million children globally suffer from chronic malnutrition. You are then a complete idiot.

The true self

There is someone who sees in the secret.

One part of you notices when you have done something wrong. This part could be called The Judge. He or she also notices when you occasionally do a good deed, give a coin to a beggar, for example, and you feel proud of yourself.

Other parts of you are silencing the inner judge by spinning endless bullshit stories, excuses, and rationalizations. These parts are so loud and domineering that The Judge cannot be heard and is eventually forgotten. 

Your true self is a mixture. One part is the culprit, one part is the defense attorney, and one part is the judge. One part is a fool, one part is a smart ass, one part is a lazy slouch, one part is kind and gentle, one part is a nervous wreck, one part is upright, one part is realistic, and so forth. All these different parts make up your true self, as I see it. None of them is false.

Your true self may be hypocritical, jealous, or selfish at the moment, but you hide it from both other people and from yourself. The mask you may have to put on is your false self, but this part also belongs to you. It is also real.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_self_and_false_self

Matthew 6:2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Apocalypse

There is no sharp line between humans and animals. You can get a blood transfusion from a chimp, but not from a gorilla.

A top chimpanzee male can keep his position for four or five years, sometimes up to ten years.

His close friends are scheming to overthrow him. One of them will eventually succeed and can take over the leadership of the flock. The old king is beaten up and exiled.

The flock is happy to have a new leader who can guide them.

Chimpanzees live in hierarchical societies. There are upper-class, middle-class, and underclass chimpanzees.

War against neighboring flocks is commonplace.

Humans have inherited war and aggression from our ancestors, as well as love and compassion.

We can teach our children about things that don't exist, or might exist, and talk about the past and the future. Chimps don't understand anything about this.

Evolution has brought us here to the bitter end. Endless wars, the nuclear arms race, climate change, and pollution will soon make us go extinct. We are living in the end times.

Information

 - God did not create the universe. The universe is not created; it has always existed. God and his angels were created by the universe, like us, human beings.

- Where have you got this information from?

- I read it somewhere. Maybe I heard someone on YouTube talking about it.

Modern spirituality

I have always worked too much; my career in finance was everything to me. When I was in my forties, I had a mental breakdown and ended up in a psychiatric ward. There, I realized that I had to change my lifestyle. I decided to become a spiritual teacher instead.

I created a YouTube channel and wrote a book about my death experience, reincarnation, spirituality, and stuff like that. There is a huge market for such things. A lot of people have died and come back to tell their stories about what is going on there on the other side. The competition is tough, but I think this is good. I like freedom of choice and competition. Visit my website for more information. There you can order my book and find dates and tickets to my courses and lectures.

You shall have no other gods before me

There are so many gods to choose from. There are gods for the rich and gods for the poor, gods for the slow-witted and gods for the smartypants.

The Truth

When you have found God, and you know what he wants from us, or, if you have found out that there is no God, when you finally understand what life is all about: money, social status and sex, to eat or be eaten, or, when you have found your true self, or that the self is an illusion, or, when you know what will happen to us after death, then you are deluded.

When you have it all figured out, this is a clear sign that you have been misled. Later, you will realize that you had it all wrong. You had fooled yourself. And now you have found the truth, at last.  

When you know, deep in your heart, what religion, political, or philosophical explanation is superior, then you must ask yourself: could it be that I don't see the full picture? If the answer is no, I am right, you can be convinced that you have been fooled.

I have lost friends to religious and spiritual cults, crazy ideas, and political convictions. And I have had friends who have lost me because of my opinions, views, and beliefs.

Ingrained convictions are like magic spells.