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.

Free Will

Modern brain research has concluded that free will is an illusion. However, it can still be very tangible if you find yourself in a grocery store with a three-year-old. She is kicking and screaming her lungs out because she is denied the chocolate cookies she wants.

It may be that the scientists are right; we don't have a will of our own, and perhaps previous events determine everything. Maybe no one should be blamed for what they have done, not even the worst war criminals. However, you don't care what they find in the scientific laboratories if you shop for groceries with a furious three-year-old. You don't live in a laboratory; you live here in the everyday dimension.  

You don't know what is happening on the sub-atomic level; You don't know which genes are activated in your body on the biological level; you don't know what the angels and demons are up to; you don't know what's going on in your subconscious mind; You know what is happening here on the mundane level. And you have to make a decision.

Determined Life without free will Robert Sapolsky