Immortality, Consciousness and Cellular Stress. Intelligence, Spirituality and Religion. The Duality of Our Reality, Matter and Metaphysics.

[dervmai]

Is God healthy? God is energy? Holiness, innocence, and positivity, all of these things are things that one associates with God. All the states associated with God are positive. We are God-like. We are not God. But even God is just a theory, just like the theory of atoms, just like the theory of everything. Our understanding of the world is just a theory, it could completely be false and our minds just perceive it one way. What is matter, what is the soul and consciousness. Our association with ourselves is what limits our understanding of things beyond us, beyond our physical bodies. We associate ourselves with matter so much because matter is all things physical by definition and our senses sense our environment which is composed of matter, it is our connector between the physical and conscious realm, and the organism is not enlightened enough to disassociate and ascend. Thought is abstract, therefore consciousness is abstract because thought is abstract and consciousness is thought. And thought is just an awareness of experience. Our interaction with the physical realm and everything that arises that is linked to the matter, including thought. Our senses are the connector of the physical nature of matter and space, and the metaphysical nature of consciousness.

The body is physical, our body and our soul are different things, and a clear distinction needs to be made when talking about health. Immortality will not be achieved to those who are reading this, we don’t even know if immortality is even possible, so how can we begin to try and achieve this? All we can do is optimize the organism enough so that it lives the most stress free life possible. We live in a world of too many stressors. The best we can do with our limited knowledge and technology is optimize it the best way possible. But at the core of it, you must bring the organism into a sense of tranquility and peace, and only then can hormones optimize and true healing take place. A disturbed soul and a mind in turmoil cannot expect to be healthy.

We need to not only reduce our stressors, but also dissociate ourselves from the physical world. I believe one of our main goals in life should be to achieve peace and happiness, for ourselves and for others. We don’t know what is after death, but we know we die. Our bodies die, but we don’t know if our souls and consciousness do, add that to the massive pile of the things we don’t know. I don’t think our organism is capable of achieving immortality, we don’t have the technology for it. Our bodies don’t have the capabilities, we don’t even know if it is achievable. As far as we know, it is unnatural. But it is capable of healing to a point where good health is achievable and maybe things like cancer are preventable. The health of an individual is a reflection of the organism's capability of responding to stress.

Very few find enlightenment, and for those who have experienced it, they know that state of being is fleeting. Intelligence plays a big role in the “enlightened state” of the individual. And enlightenment, like many many things in life, is on a spectrum. Intelligence does not mean enlightenment, it just plays a part in the ability to become enlightened. It is all on a spectrum, you can argue that everyone is enlightened to a certain extent, but some are more enlightened than others. Monks live longer than the average population… not sure if you all knew that, just a random "fact". Don’t feel like linking studies, research it yourself, but it makes sense doesn’t it? Consciousness and human nature need to be differentiated. Human nature is to overthink, to overstress, to feel anxious, but does that mean the nature of consciousness is to also overthink and over stress and to be overly anxious?? Do aliens, if they exist which they probably do...do they overthink? Do they too experience the seeming curse of consciousness? What if we could exist and think but we somehow could control the thoughts we think? We as humans so far are not able to do so, and the best we can do is dissociate ourselves with our thoughts… This is the point of mindfulness. Human nature is why we are humans and not a god.

Thinking is stressful, therefore the organism is stressed and stress causes aging and cellular turmoil that leads to the cell ultimately dying. We are in our heads too much, and in our “heads” we live with our stress promoting thoughts and emotions. Again this is the curse that comes with intelligence and consciousness.

Life is more than just our physical body. Consciousness is complex and is not so tangible, our understanding of it is limited. How can we quantify something that is so complex and beyond our understanding and so intangible? We are not God, we are humans, and we as humans are not able to. We are the apex predators on this earth, the most intelligent, and I think that this “fact” sometimes gets to our head.

When a man dies, you don’t question whether his body is dead or alive. If you tell a morgue technician that a dead man is alive, he will question your sanity very much so. However if you ask him if the dead person went to heaven, he will look up and scratch his head and ask himself the same question. He doesn’t know either so it’s pointless to ask. Anything beyond the physical world and beyond death, is unexplored territory.

Religion and spirituality calms the mind, it gives a sense of peace. We don’t know anything about anything, let alone what comes after death. We are intelligent conscious beings, and these are the types of thoughts we tend to think . Religious people live on average 4 years longer than atheists based on research done in the USA. Half a decade longer than atheists. Just an interesting statistic I would like to throw out there. Sadly I think religion is also twisted in a way to control the masses. I’m not rejecting God. I don’t want to. I want to believe there is a God who is all knowing and all powerful and who is good and kind. One who loves me and cares for me. I still am on a spiritual journey throughout my life, conflicted by all the religions and different gods. Cursed that I am intelligent enough to question that which I have been indoctrinated into. Ignorance is bliss sometimes…


All these issues I am facing in my life, I’m sure have been faced by each person who reads this. Oblivion is scary, the unknown is scary. I think we need to turn towards spirituality. Whether you find it through religion or whatever. I do think a rejection of God and our creator is a scary thing. It puts the organism into a state of stress. Atheists believe there is no God, however they too cannot prove this. There is fear in the back of their mind that they are wrong… their perception of life without God will in my opinion drastically alter their state of being for the worse. I think religion is good… it helps the masses achieve a more enlightened state, a state which will be beneficial for the organism, as their state of mind will change for the better. Everyone cannot think deeply enough to question and reach a high level of enlightenment, religion might be a blueprint to help the masses achieve a more enlightened state. Sadly each day we stray further from God.

I think everyone on this forum is dealing with issues, because if you weren’t you wouldn’t be here. I think we think and worry too much. I don’t think we fully understand just how unhealthy this is for us. We look towards supplements and a good diet or optimizing thyroid function… all these things help, but it is still a crutch. I think the root of it all is psychological turmoil. Being unhealthy and knowing you're unhealthy makes you more unhealthy because you worry about being unhealthy…. It’s funny isn’t it?


I think we should take a moment to be grateful. Even if you find yourself in the worst state of health imaginable… overly worrying about it will do you no good… worry was designed to keep you alive to a certain extent… because we worry about things is what has made it possible for us to evolve as a species… for there to be innovation and change. We as a species share this burden. We all die, that is the one thing we all have in common. Everyone who reads this will wither and die, sad I know but it is something we have to come to terms with, and the inability to will cause further stress on the organism. Take a breath and go live a little. Be grateful for the things you have… people have it much worse than you. Imagine having no legs, or being blind… imagine having CPRS (complex regional pain syndrome)..... Be grateful you don’t have them right now…. worry less about the future…. don’t dwell on the past… live in the moment everyone…. Take it all in and appreciate it… All of those suffering with ill health… it shall pass… whether you get better or whether you never do till you die… you will die regardless. Hopefully what is after death is more peaceful than the suffering life is. We all share the burden of the suffering of life… you are not alone. Continue to figure out your health issues, but don't stress so much about it, it's a very thin line so be aware of this. Think, read, learn.... perceive, think, act, but also don't stress. Experience and enjoy life, try to be happy, try to be grateful, help others, be kind, become more like God. I think our anxieties stem from being too in love with the world. Beauty fades, health deteriorates, our anxieties stem from the things of this world. Our anxieties cause us stress which causes us ill health. Stress less everyone, it’s good for your health!!!!!!! This concludes my mushroom trip.



Side notes of my trip that I want to learn more about- the terrain of the organism. I think the bioenergetic viewpoint is the best view on health I have read about, the terrain is a result of the cells. We need to optimize cellular function... need to read more about this...

 

[PopSocket]

Halfway through I wanted to ask you whether you dropped some acid prior to writing this. And then the mushroom part at the end made it all make sense ( : haha

Yeah, we are energetic beings of some sort living in a "physical" avatar. It does seem all stresses throghout life leave a scar and break the avatar little by little. Usually starting with damaging the small blood vessels as Ray said as they seem the most vulnerable. In the gut and other places. Need to chill and enjoy the trip as much as we can. Its a weird place.

 

[Zpol]

I think this topic is possibly the most important topic on this forum. I agree with most of your statements and conclusions with the exception of thinking that we need to reduce our stressors or dissociate with the physical world. I tried this, for many many years. What I realized is that the more you practice avoidance of foods, environments, and things, and the more you practice single-pointed meditation or sensory deprivation, the more withdrawn from the world you become. The trajectory of this ends with you becoming a shut-in or hermit, or insane. I realize that some Buddhist monks live longer and/or have superior ability to withstand cold for example, but is that really a meaningful life or goal? Me personally, I don't think so. I'm sure some would disagree.

We are constantly shaped and molded by our experiences and by the lies the media feeds us, plus the lies our family and friends tell us (yes the even well meaning ones). Surely there's some truth in there somewhere but it's so hard to find. Makes one wonder; where do our thoughts even come from? Events happen, we string them together in story format so that it 'makes sense', filling in the gaps with complete nonsense (that's magic tricks and hypnosis appear to 'work'). And then from that we somehow have personalities, insecurities, and supposedly our own thoughts. And then from that, we form identities which we cling to. It's not all bad though, from that we derive creativity as well, which makes it all worth it in my opinion.

I also experimented with mushrooms and LSD. I feel like one trip should be mandatory for everyone. Just so that we can all see the delicate nature of perception. You see the same objects while on LSD that you'd normally see (and you realize this much) but your perception of them is very different. If perception of objects is so easily skewed, imagine how skewed perception of conceptual ideas can be. This realization can go far in helping us to identify our own cognitive biases and confirmation biases. Assuming one wants to even do that. Many people seem to be perfectly happy living in ignorance (side note... are they even real?!.. they don't seem like it sometimes, like they're shells or automatons). I think that's another ultimate outcome of avoidance and single-pointed meditation practices.

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” ~ William Blake ​

On the topic of stress, RP often mentioned Hans Selye. Selye is considered the father of modern stress theory and founder of the G.A.S. model. He wrote 'Stress Without Distress'. While this guy basically wrote the book on the ways in which stress is harmful, he is also quoted as saying "stress is the spice of life". Point being; become resilient to stress, don't try to avoid it to extent it ruins you. Possibly the best way to do that is to practice gratefulness as you stated in your OP. I remember when I used to get migraines. At one point I decided to be grateful that I even had a head to experience a migraine. Things started changing at that point.

Shortly before RP passed, I realized my ills were much too complicated for him to help me with via brief emails and the long hours I spent pouring over his wealth of knowledge he so graciously shared with us. I realized I needed to think like him. One thing he emphasized that gets over looked while we are all trying elimination-type diets and specific supplements, is the importance of creativity. RP was an amazing artist with a love of poetry. If fact, that's a major part of his legacy in my mind. Creativity is the primary therapy we all need. The effect of creativity has on the nervous system is profound; it's akin to physical therapy but for the brain (it activates neuroplasticity). Once you take your nervous system down a few notches you can tolerate much more in terms of foods and environmental triggers. It has to be integral in your life though; that's the tricky part.

After Selye, I figured I should read everything by William Blake (another mind who inspired RP). Which I mostly have so far, but in doing this I realized I had to read the Bible since Blake had biblical topics interweaved in his writing and imagery. After doing that, I realized why the Bible is so important. As an atheist at the time I didn't understand. Basically, if we all go around trying to live our best life we will fail because no one is on the same page and there will only be conflict. Also, we will be happy to live in ignorance. In order to have health in the face of adversity and affliction, you must also have purpose and creativity. Or else, why fight, why try. I found the book of Ecclesiastes particularly insightful on this topic. Furthermore, Blake helped me understand good and evil and the nature of God much better that I had previously. I think it's a worthy endeavor to be more like Christ during his time on Earth. It's my goal and purpose now and it's by far the most important aspect of my life. Interestingly, my health has improved drastically. I'm not cured but I'm no longer triggered very easily and no longer living in fear of disease and suffering.

 

[dervmai]

We are constantly shaped and molded by our experiences and by the lies the media feeds us, plus the lies our family and friends tell us (yes the even well meaning ones). Surely there's some truth in there somewhere but it's so hard to find. Makes one wonder; where do our thoughts even come from? Events happen, we string them together in story format so that it 'makes sense', filling in the gaps with complete nonsense (that's magic tricks and hypnosis appear to 'work'). And then from that we somehow have personalities, insecurities, and supposedly our own thoughts. And then from that, we form identities which we cling to. It's not all bad though, from that we derive creativity as well, which makes it all worth it in my opinion.

I also experimented with mushrooms and LSD. I feel like one trip should be mandatory for everyone. Just so that we can all see the delicate nature of perception. You see the same objects while on LSD that you'd normally see (and you realize this much) but your perception of them is very different. If perception of objects is so easily skewed, imagine how skewed perception of conceptual ideas can be. This realization can go far in helping us to identify our own cognitive biases and confirmation biases. Assuming one wants to even do that. Many people seem to be perfectly happy living in ignorance (side note... are they even real?!.. they don't seem like it sometimes, like they're shells or automatons). I think that's another ultimate outcome of avoidance and single-pointed meditation practices.

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” ~ William Blake ​

We needlessly stress over illusions of this world. Most people stress about their job or about what people think about them, or their appearance, or their health… These things are illusions. Our body is an illusion. If you were to close your eyes and think of an object in front of you… how would you know it is there? If you had no prior knowledge of the object's existence, and you were not able to use your senses (which are the vessels which interact with the physical realm, the connector of the metaphysical nature of consciousness…..) how would you know the object exists….? You wouldn’t… only a spectator can tell you there is something in front of you…. only a spectator can tell you that you even exist. If someone who worries about their appearance couldn’t see themselves… and if everyone in the world could not see, would anyone stress about their appearance?

"We are constantly shaped and molded by our experiences and by the lies the media feeds us, plus the lies our family and friends tell us (yes the even well meaning ones). Surely there's some truth in there somewhere but it's so hard to find. Makes one wonder; where do our thoughts even come from? Events happen, we string them together in story format so that it 'makes sense', filling in the gaps with complete nonsense (that's magic tricks and hypnosis appear to 'work'). And then from that we somehow have personalities, insecurities, and supposedly our own thoughts. And then from that, we form identities which we cling to. It's not all bad though, from that we derive creativity as well, which makes it all worth it in my opinion."


I think creativity can greatly increase if one understands and is able to "break free" from the illusions of life and are able to find gratitude in suffering and develop a "love" or fascination of the world that stems not from that of the world (the physical nature of the world, and all it's pleasures)

Indeed, our experiences mold and shape who we are… experiences are a product of our interaction with the physical world, consciousness interacting with matter. Again the distinction between “self”, our consciousness and all things metaphysical and the physical nature of our reality needs to be made. I might be slightly nihilistic about the world, maybe it’s just because of my experiences so far. I think there is a state of enlightenment where one disassociates themselves greatly from the physical natures of the world… free from their worries of the world… this would be fleeting, yes… but they would come to a state of incredible gratitude… appreciating life even in the midst of great suffering.

Yes I think a constant state of dissociation leads to the organism becoming as you stated, “hermit” like. I think those who reach this state are also wrong… understandably wrong. Their conclusions are, in my opinion, wrong. They have gotten to the state of enlightenment where they understand a bit about the illusions of life… but don’t ever reach the peak of the “mountain” where the views shift dramatically from a disdain for life, and all the things in it that make life full of suffering (mainly due to their experience), to a perspective of overflowing joy and appreciation, where they can see what is over the mountain… a beautiful lush landscape, animals, birds, and life living so freely and joyously… the fresh air in your lungs… the feeling of being on top of the world, not a feeling stemming from ego, but the opposite. The disdain turns into laughter and a sense of well being overflows the individual… they embrace the suffering and uncertainty of life, what is after death…. They realize it is far too short, and that time is fleeting… and that they should stop worrying about the meaningless things in life, and instead happily focus on living and appreciating the things that truly do matter just a bit, it will still be difficult to do so, don’t get me wrong even with enlightenment… but it will be much much easier . :) Great write up, a great read. Thank you for your comment @Zpol it was a pleasure to read.

On a side note- I turn towards spirituality in an attempt to quench the hole that I think we all have in our souls. Still the uncertainty of a single religion being right is what causes unrest. Religions like Christianity or Islam state that if you don’t believe in the religion completely… like believing Jesus is God, you are damned for eternity… Why did it have to be this way… is it just to put the fear of God into the masses and to control them? It would make sense… I think religion drastically reduces crime rates, drastically improves society… it controls human nature… cultivates it for the better… establishes morals and ideals, builds a community composed of people who love God, who show their love to others....the love of God manifested through his creation. Or it could be that religion is indeed unquestionable truth… and that Jesus is God. We will never know… not in this life. I think I am of little faith ): . This is truly scary… I think most people tend to brush this to the side… they don’t want to deal with the headache and soul ache that comes with these questions.

Another side note- "I think this topic is possibly the most important topic on this forum. I agree with most of your statements and conclusions with the exception of thinking that we need to reduce our stressors or dissociate with the physical world. I tried this, for many many years. What I realized is that the more you practice avoidance of foods, environments, and things, and the more you practice single-pointed meditation or sensory deprivation, the more withdrawn from the world you become. The trajectory of this ends with you becoming a shut-in or hermit, or insane. I realize that some Buddhist monks live longer and/or have superior ability to withstand cold for example, but is that really a meaningful life or goal? Me personally, I don't think so. I'm sure some would disagree." I don't have opinions on this as of yet... still trying to learn and figure out the technicalities of it all as stress free as possible. People say avoid foods, people say don't avoid them.... eliminate the unhealthy food as much as possible... but don't limit yourself too much like 0 starches for life or something.... hard to say... still trying to figure it out. So many conflicting ideas and theories on health.... goes it show how much we really know about it all.... which again is not a lot haha.

 

[akgrrrl]

Metabolic Therapy
William Blake
Dimash ( start with SOS on youtube)
Ancestral Proper Human Diet
...creative industry, spiritual essence seeking, animal and earth partnerships...

 

[dervmai]

Metabolic Therapy
William Blake
Dimash ( start with SOS on youtube)
Ancestral Proper Human Diet
...creative industry, spiritual essence seeking, animal and earth partnerships...

Thank you for the recommendations

 

[akgrrrl]

Thank you for the recommendations

(curtseys)