The concealed

The world consists of two parts: the known and the unknown.

All animals are curious by nature, but humans are extremely curious. The unknown drives us crazy. At any cost, we must find out what it's like beyond those mountains - or out there or in there. Scientists and spiritual seekers spend all their time and energy trying to make the unknown known. Only to realize that the unknown is so much larger than they expected.

Because it's irritating and frustrating not to know, and because we have invested so much time and money to understand the world, who we are, and why we are here, and because we are unwilling to admit that we are ignorant thickheads, we resort to lying. We claim with emphasis that we know. We create religions and teachings that explain things to us. We build metaphysical castles in the air.

It feels so good to know the truth.

Both Christian and Muslim mystics have been fond of the unknown. They find God and his kingdom in this unrevealed part of the world. They love their invisible God. But, because a big part of the world is unknown, it does not necessarily imply a higher being exists. The unknown is simply unknown. 

Some, a tiny group of people, acknowledge and pray to the unknown but ignore the teachings of priests, monks, mystics, pastors, imams, mullahs, spiritual guides, gurus, and philosophers.

Extreme mystics don't even pray or engage in any spiritual exercises. They simply live their life. Good or bad, the unknown made me and my life this way. When the time is right, I'll change my ways and stop drinking and smoking.

Democracy

In the US, you can choose between two presidential candidates representing two right-wing parties. Their policies are practically identical. Both are devoted supporters of the rich and the military-industrial complex. It's the same thing in the UK. A similar system prevails also here in Sweden, but here you can choose between two political blocks (coalitions of parties) with similar political ideas. It's like the European Song Contest; all contestants sound the same. The vast majority love the European Song Contest.

Fairy tales for children above forty

You have been raised from the dead, from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, nitrogen and magnesium, stuff like that.

From stuff like that, you shall be raised again and again. If the universe is cyclic.

A cyclic universe is a universe that will eventually collapse back to itself; then, it will explode again, expand, and collapse again. And again.

All possible combinations of atoms will eventually be formed again. History will repeat itself over and over again. This is the wheel of samsara.

However, maybe the universe is not cyclic. Perhaps it is a one-night stand, a single-night performance by an amazing magician.

Or, what if there are also other universes, spiritual worlds not made up of atoms and molecules?

There are so many different views on these things. One is crazier than the other. 

https://www.astronomy.com/science/what-would-this-cyclic-model-of-the-universe-mean-for-the-big-bang/

Apocalypse

The end times are here now, I believe. Humanity will disappear within ten, fifteen years or so. Planet Earth will become uninhabitable for human beings because of climate change, environmental pollution, and nuclear war. We are like drug addicts in a crack house. But Jesus will not come back. Not even the Christians will be saved. They are probably the last people he wants to bring with him to heaven: wacky, money-crazy, war-crazy hypocrites.

The extended mind

1. This thought is entering your brain when you are reading this. When I read your comments, your thoughts are entering my brain. Our thoughts are not situated only inside our heads. In fact, almost all of our thoughts have originated outside of us.

2. Dean Radin has proved that telepathy is not just a fantasy. I may pick up your thoughts and emotions even though we are miles apart and not connected by phone or internet. Telepathy is a very feeble force, but it exists.

3. Synchronicities, or meaningful coincidences, are also real phenomena, but they don't seem to be generated in our brains; their interpretations are, of course, brain stuff, but not the actual events. I have no idea how they come about. They are a mystery to me.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/ppls/philosophy/research/impact/the-extended-mind-in-science-and-society

https://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/articles/ExtendedMind.pdf

Extraterrestrial beings

If you were an anthropologist from another planet who came here to study humankind, how would you describe what you saw? Would you have been impressed by us?

Materialism

The cosmic battle between good and evil is taking place in our brains. Without brains, there would be no heaven and hell, no good and evil, no love and hate, no materialism, and no spirituality.

Tribalism

Many things separate us and make us enemies: religious beliefs, political ideas, ethnicity, cultural values, food preferences, music preferences, dress codes, self-help gurus, you name it. We belong to different social groups, much like chimpanzees. You feel at home inside your group, not necessarily safe, but at home.

I don't feel at home among neo-nazis, liberals, and conservatives. I don't feel at home among woke leftists. I don't feel at home among devoted Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Jews. I don't feel at home among New Age nuts, sports fanatics, drug addicts, and criminals; I feel at home among people who are nothing in particular. 

Ecumenical dialogue

Most people pray to God. They are not necessarily religious, going to church or a mosque, but they pray when things get rough. Even atheists turn to God when they are in serious trouble. I know because I'm of that kind. Maybe all people of all faiths, in reality, pray to the same God.

You label yourself as something. You are a Sunni or Shia Muslim, an orthodox Jew, a Protestant, or a Roman Catholic. You are an atheist, an agnostic, a die-hard conservative, a liberal, a leftist, or whatever. Why is it so hard, do you think, to be nothing special, simply a human being, a chump?

Determinism

I'm sitting in the kitchen and writing this in the middle of the night. My index finger moves over the keyboard, searching for the right key. Is it really me setting my molecules in motion, or are the molecules moving by themselves?

Monism

Dualism makes a distinction between body and soul. The body consists of matter, and the soul consists of a nonmaterial substance that lives on after death.

Most modern scientists believe that everything is physical. That may be true. But what if God, the souls, and the spirits are also made of mysterious physical stuff?

Maybe everything is real? Illusions, delusions, and fantasies. Ideas and beliefs, truths and untruths. Maybe all the thoughts that pop up in your head are parts of the cosmic creation?

We are not on the outside looking at the world. We are in the world. Everything that is happening is happening—the formation of stars and galaxies, rainbows, and butterflies. Meetings, warts, goats, and bananas. Everything is there.

The idea that underlying all the diversity is an oneness that you can experience is also an idea. The term pure consciousness implies that there is also impure consciousness. That is dualism. The distinction between Brahman and Maya is also dualism, much like Platonism.

You are not on a spiritual journey that eventually leads to awakening and the experience of oneness. You are here right now for some reason. In a minute, you will be somewhere else.