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Arguing On The Net

A Message To Those Who Argue On The Net:

 

 

"I guess my question is, why is it so important to be right? I mean, why put so much energy into debating others? Has anything good ever come from constantly contesting the ideas of all those who either, are not, or don't think like, you? Has any true wisdom ever really arose from such an interaction? Does the need for people to see your intelligence really outweigh your respect for the thoughts and postulations of others?

 

It just seems to me like any conversation of that nature is really just a waste of time. Unless, of course, you are one of those researchers who are actually actively producing the data in question, rather than just trusting in, and regurgitating from, the almighty Google. That's how you will show your true wisdom, by finding your own answers and engaging in such investigations for the betterment of yourself and those around you, rather than just simply trying to prove something to the world and arguing your point until others believe you are right. Only the stubborn and the ignorant do that.

 

Life is a mysterious journey. An intimately personal experience that is not to be dominated and consumed by you, but rather one that is meant to be passionately explored and shared by all..."

 

- Aaron Hutchins

 

 

Time Is An Illusion

"Time does not exist. It's only the way we perceive reality that gives us the illusion of the passing of time. Everything past, present and future, and even every possible thing that could happen, is all happening at the same time, in this version of the universe or any of the infinite parallel iterations of this universe. Everything is, was and will always be...NOW. We are simply choosing to experience each of those nows one at a time, like the frames of a movie, creating what appears to our consciousness to be a sequence of events that tells a story in a forward progression, but, in truth, all time and space is just an illusion of the mind." - Aaron Hutchins

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once...The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." - Albert Einstein

 

This conceptual idea of time being nothing more than an illusion is an interesting one for sure. A concept with potential implications that have loomed like a puzzling dark cloud over even some of the greatest minds throughout what we have perceived as recorded history. Here is a great article with more about this concept containing some great scientific references regarding this idea.

 

ARTICLE: There Is No Such Thing As Time. Never Was And Never Will Be.

 

 

Why Does The Universe Exist?

This question of the origin of the universe has been on my mind more than any other in my life and the pursuit of an answer to this question is the reason I write an existential blog. I truly wish there were more individuals in the world who pondered this great mystery. 

In this video philosopher Jim Holt starts his talk by asking the question, "Why does the universe exist?", and everyone laughs. Unfortunately, I think that type of response to some of life's bigger questions is a fairly common thing, as it seems we have all taught ourselves not to think too much about those things. We even convince ourselves in many cases that questions of that nature are ridiculous questions to ask, perhaps to protect ourselves from the fear of knowing or the fear of how that might potentially change the way we live and think about our lives and how we perceive our reality. 

In truth though, my whole life I don't think I've ever been able to NOT think about this question because it seems so extremely crucial to our existence, so it's always truly baffled me that anyone could go through an entire lifetime without, at least at some point, contemplating this question as well. I believe it's not only perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves as living, breathing, members of this fantastical universe, but quite possibly the only real question there is to ask...

The Most Important Truth

"Perhaps one of the most important truths about ourselves that we can realize is that every one of us is filled with the divine nature of the universe and that at the end of the great lifespan of that universe, our faults and shortcomings, and the mistakes we made on this planet, will have had absolutely no significance. Only what we have contributed, and the degree to which we have loved and allowed ourselves to embrace that unity and oneness that we have with all things in existence, will have ever made any relevant difference to the universe at all..." - Aaron Hutchins

Be All That You Are

Be All That You Are

 

I wouldn't say that I am a happy person by nature,

With every waking moment...the word "WHY" on my lips.

Aching to understand the reason for my existence.

Yearning to know the truth of all that through my fingers slips.

 

"You needn't worry about life," they tell me.

"Life has a way of taking care of itself."

"You are exactly what you were meant to be," they say.

"You needn't want to be more than yourself."

 

But I was born with this tireless curiosity.

I came into this world with this need to see.

It makes me happy to marvel at universal wonder,

And I find joy in the thought of transcending all that is "me".

 

I have this burning inside to reconnect with my divine nature,

But I also long to help set this whole reality free.

So perhaps those questions within me are my gift to the world.

Perhaps that curiosity is my soul's way of being all it can be.

 

Everything is but fluctuations of energy,
And everyone is perfect the way they are that's true,

But everyone is resonating towards the desires of their heart,

So might not that include the need to be more too?

Therefore pay no attention to the life coaching of others,
For the only advice given is for them and not you.
Just follow along with whatever your heart says,
And be all that you are...That's all you can do.

AARON HUTCHINS

Everything Is Perfect

From our emergence into this world at birth, all the way up until our final rest, we're taught to view the world in terms of duality. Good and bad. Happy and sad. Positive and negative. Light and dark. Beautiful and ugly. Right and wrong. In fact, in the whole spectrum of possible experience it seems as if we tend to gravitate towards one polarity or another, when, in all reality, there really is absolutely no difference between either side of that spectrum except for the feelings that we attach to those things. That is to say, for instance, that a thing is only considered "bad" because we ourselves have attached a negative meaning to that thing that says it's bad and therein lies the nature of all things. These feelings we have not only dictate meaning towards the things we encounter in life, but they also fundamentally shape our perceptions of the world. So, in all actuality, everything is neutral until we attach meaning to it and, in this way, the duality that we all experience is really merely nothing more than a projection of our own consciousness.

Where do we get these ideas and interpretations of our reality then? Well, some of these ideas we, of course, develop on our own, but also, I think just by nature of being brought up in any culture, we are subject to being influenced by the collective views of society and by the perspectives of those in our environment around us. The truth is though, that, beyond all those things, everything that happens in our lives, by one means or another, is perfect just the way it is. Granted, there are a great number of things out there that might bring harm to people and, most certainly, anything that imposes upon the will and/or well being of another is a potentially harmful thing to the world, but those things, I think, really come down to more of an issue of common sense. I'm more referring here to all of those things that each of us do everyday that stand as unique and, perhaps even, unprecendented expressions of who we really are as individuals and of what humanity can truly be. We may not understand all of these things to be sure, but I think that as human beings who are just learning about our lives as we go, that there is always something beautiful to be taken in from every experience that we have.

 ~ You've got an angry person in your life? Well, you can almost bet that they're only angry because they're in the same process of learning some deeper lessons about life as we are.

~ You've been dumped by your significant other? Well, isn't it possible that you're here to have experiences with more than just that one person in your life and that, by opening ourselves up to new people, we can only learn new and beautiful things about ourselves and about the world?

~ You feel uncomfortable around people who look, act or even think differently than you do? Well, could it be that you're just struggling with that fear that we all have of the unknown and of those things in life that we simply just don't yet understand because they're maybe just a little different from the way that we have chosen to live our own lives?

The point is that there really are an infinite number of ways to live a life and, although we will certainly never understand them all, they are all beautiful in their own way. In fact, if we can learn to appreciate and even find joy in those differences between us all, while also allowing others to be what they are and to create their own unique expression of the life experience, I think we'll begin to find that, even after we've probed the virtually infinite depths of the entire universe, all of those different individual perceptions and expressions of life are probably one of the most stunningly fascinating things about life that we may ever encounter. I believe that once we're able to recognize that too, that then we will no longer feel the need to waste our energies struggling against the world or in self-defense, as our world suddenly becomes much bigger and we are able to look out at the universe with new eyes and marvel in wonder and awe at the magic of all that is...

An Awakening

"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. - Lao Tzu"

Today I awoke with a clarity of vision, an awareness of mind and a deep appreciation for everything that I have and everyone that I know. This new awareness inspired me to make this meme. Hope you like it... :)

All Answers Come From Within

I've had this idea on my mind a lot lately of looking within ourselves to find the answers to all of life's many questions, so I made these two memes. I hope you like them! :)

 

What Are We Doing?

What are we doing???...This is probably the first question that often comes to mind when someone begins to see the bigger picture of what humanity has done so far with the unfathomably profound gift of consciousness that we've all inherited through billions and billions of years of evolution in this universe. We've traveled across light years of space and were seeded on this planet by the stars to do one thing, to answer the question that's been burning in the mind of the universe itself and the very reason for the existence of everything we could ever know since the beginning of time. I think that this question that the universe has really been trying to solve through all of its infinite expressions of existence is, "What am I?"

I don't even think the universe knows the answer to this question any more than we know what we are, otherwise there would be no purpose for our existence here. It seems to be trying to figure out, through every random occurence it can allow us and everything out there to have, in this existence and every possible parallel one, what it is to exist and how it came to be.

To do this it would have needed to empty out it's conscious awareness of itself completely, the same way that one does when they meditate or when they ingest a psychoactive substance. In order to learn from that which is outside of all known reality and that which only seems to be completely unknowable in our current state of mind, requires that the old state of mind be entirely cleared out of everything it has previously known and experienced so that it can allow those inner parts of itself, of which we are a part, the freedom and universal power to explore and create anything that we can deem possible in our conscious minds. Only then might the source of all things that birthed the universe discover every aspect of what it truly is. In the same way we can connect with our own inner universe by quieting our minds and allowing those deep inner parts of ourselves the freedom to explore and be something new and different and unique, that we might receive a kind of knowledge from beyond the veil that transcends all of space and time.

So, what are we doing with this consciousness we have to wonder? Where are we taking ourselves on this fantastical adventure we call life?  In the past we've established systems of disharmony and separation, world governments and divisive borders and cultures that push us away from each other and strip us of our human link with one another, but overall our lives seem to be perhaps moving towards a greater interconnectedness, as we've painstakingly been learning from our mistakes since the dawn of time.

Here is a video by Terence McKenna that might paint a deeper picture of this process of evolution that we've all been going through...



Coincidence And Synchronicity

In my life, as a general rule, it seems that every single random subject or idea that I focus on presents itself to me again within the next 24 hours. This happens everyday without fail. It happens so often in fact that it often calls into question for me the very concept of what reality must be. Statistically, I think to myself, I must be creating these things within my own reality, so I'm always thinking about how there simply can't be any such thing as "coincidence".

Three Things That Could Change The World

The road of life is long, so we have to know that it's ok to not always know where we are on it. However, if every person on Earth, simultaneously,  tried to give more to others, to let go of fear and to learn to forgive themselves for their shortcomings, then this world that we live in would discover peace for the first time and the lives of every man, woman & child would find fulfillment in their existence.

The Hero's Journey

I've been thinking back recently to a trip I took last year to see the Mayan ruins of Mexico and Guatemala. I've always been fascinated with the magic of the region and with Mayan culture, beliefs, architecture, creation myth, etc. This has been particularly true as we near the end of the Mayan long count calendar; an intricate system of time keeping which spans the 5,125 years from August 11, 3114 BC to the winter solstice on December 21, 2012 AD.

Many translations say that the Mayans predicted the end date of the calendar to be the end of a great world age. In fact, it seems the Mayans thought that at the end of this 5,125 year cycle we would enter what they called "The Time of No Time"; a period which would bring with it phenomenal changes and transformation on the earth. These changes, they believed, would propel us into a great evolutionary period on this planet, which would carry our world into a time of new beginnings and deep spiritual growth.

When thinking to myself about all the mind blowing structures that I was privileged enough to experience at each of the ancient sites, I was reminded of just how much of a feeling of awe and reverence, as well as a deep reflection upon one's own spiritual nature, that each of these spectacular monuments seemed to command. This was a defining experience which planted the seed within me to find more peace and harmony within myself, as well as letting go of fear, that I might one day come to understand more the true nature of existence and reality. Many of these concepts, I feel, have lead me to a place of comprehending, that the road to enlightenment is more than just a quest for personal knowledge. It's about learning compassion and coming back with all that you've learned, with a burning desire to share with other's what following that call within your heart has taught you.

This burning call to action, that all of us experience at one time or another in our lives, got me thinking about the book, "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell. In the book he introduces the concept that all the great journeys in our lives that make epic stories, help us achieve difficult goals and even perhaps lead us down the path of ultimately becoming better people, unwaveringly follow the same progression of events, which he called "The Hero's Journey". Fascinated with this concept, I started researching more about the hero's path, as it no doubt mirrors the path of one whose goal is to seek true inner peace and enlightenment. This can be seen here in this short clip from the fascinating documentary, "Return To The Source: Philosophy And The Matrix", where they briefly discuss Joseph Campbell and "The Hero's Journey", through Neo's path to enlightenment, in "The Matrix" movie.

Now, looking more closely at these steps as a process of spiritual illumination, I began seeing instant parallels with the enlightened figures of the past, such as Jesus or The Buddha, for instance. In both cases, their lives seem to almost precisely mirror this process in perfect sequence. Particularly, the story of The Buddha's life, I think. I've been looking pretty deeply into Buddhism lately and have been completely fascinated with the life of The Buddha, as it is such an inspiring story of giving up everything that feeds "the self" in order to attain a completely pure state of love and compassion for all that is, as well as the obstacles that one must face along the way.

As far as my own "Hero's Journey" is concerned, I have most certainly experienced "The Ordinary World" & I have many times heard "The Call To Adventure", of which I have many times followed. Regarding, the particular call towards deepening my own level of enlightenment, however, I have definitely experienced "Refusal of the Call" more times than I think anyone would care to admit. Perhaps, that phase of the journey though, is by nature, designed to ensnare most any one of us, if only for awhile. I'm not sure I have specifically had my "Meeting With The Mentor" yet, although I have become quite inspired the last few years by the writings, documentaries, talks and teachings of many different spiritual masters and intellectuals advocating the exploration and development of consciousness, compassion and love, as well as refining our ability to perceive who and what we are beyond the veil of the physical world. I've hardly "Crossed the First Threshold" by making some minor changes recently towards helping myself refocus my energy in the direction of this goal. Though, it seems those "minor changes" have already presented me with some rather major "Tests, Allies & Enemies" to be regarded.

So, I am pretty far from my goals in this endeavor. I suppose though, enlightenment, is probably the most trying goal a person can set for themselves in this life, but, then again, I do like to make life difficult. Nonetheless, after many years of deliberation & "refusal", I have embarked on this journey; not quite a "hero" yet, but it's a start and I imagine every hero's story begins somewhere.

What's your "hero's journey"?

The Mystery of Life & Near Death Experiences

I recently watched this video about accounts of what people have seen during near death experiences and was reminded of a poem I wrote about how, despite all of our differences, death seems to be the one unifying factor that binds us all together in life...

Never Alone

Life is a mystery,
as days become years past.
People come and go;
sometimes to emerge once more.
Our lives, they ride,
on the waves of experience.
With each of us, perhaps,
blind to what this "self" is for.
~
This difficult puzzle
that we've come to call living,
May only yet be
no more than a dream;
But one day soon
we shall again awaken,
To extract true meaning
from all that we seem.
~
Everyone does live;
Just as everyone will die.
To each of us
these things must be,
But in this way
we soon find our connection;
For in this, we discover,
that never alone are we.

- A. Hutchins

Inside The Mind Of The Last Person On Earth...

What if you were the last person on Earth and had been for many years? After awhile, I wonder, would it seem like there was a point to anything? Do people provide 100% of our meaning & purpose for existence? When that last soul passes on, be it animal or human or insect, and no one is left to supply conscious observation to the universe, does all time & space just cease to exist as we know it?