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?