Quote Originally Posted by OnionsOfLove
Penguin:

I dont know if youre still reading this topic or not, but Im going to reply to your post anyway. Philosophy was something I always wanted to get into but I had no idea how. I did start reading some stuff but quickly became bored because it couldnt keep my attention. A few years later I took a hit of LSD and ever since then my mind has been figuring itself out, looking for truth in my own identity and formulating truths about the world around me. Things to think about:

Have you ever seen anything in your entire life without seeing the translucent image of your nose at the bottom of your plane of view?

Can you be positive that anything is happening outside, right now, without experiencing it through some sort of stimulus?

If everything you know is only a form of stimuli, how do you know that there isnt something more in the world that you just arent able to sense?

If you are willing to accept that everything that has happened to you is based on memories, thoughts, and experiences, what is keeping you from doing exactly what you want to do with your life? Are these constraints real?
I would argue that you CAN be positive things are happening outside right now irregardless if you are experiencing or not experiencing any direct or immeadiate perception of stimuli because we are able to see the results of time passing or environmental change every time we return outside.

Furthermore, just because you are not experiencing any direct stimulus does not necessarily entail that nothing is happening. That's silly. There are many things in world that we, as humans, are not able to sense--e.g., high-pitched sounds, slight changes in atomspheric conditions, certain smells; however, you make it sound as if we could experience such stimuli it would somehow open our minds to some type of eternal truth or shared consciousness or God or whatever you call it.

I don't think true knowledge is ascertained through mere perception alone. We need to rid ourselves of all preconceptions, opinions, beliefs, judgments, etc. before we are able to truly interpret the meaning of any stimuli in the first place.

Krishnamurti said:

Very few of us listen directly to what is being said, we always translate or interpret it according to a particular point of view, whether Hindu, Muslim, or communist. We have formulations, opinions, judgments, beliefs through which we listen , so we are actually never listening at all; we are only listening in terms of our own particular prejudices, conclusions, or experiences. We are always interpreting what we hear, and obviously that does not bring about any understanding...So, is it possible to listen without any prejudice, without any conclusion, without any interpretation? Because it is fairly obvious our thinking is conditioned, is it not?...Effort at any level is obviously a form of destruction, and it is only when the mind is very quiet, not making an effort, that understanding takes place. But with most of us, effort is the primary thing; we think effort is essential, and that very effort to listen, to understand, prevents comprehension, the immeadiate perception of what is true and what is false.
(From an essay entitled, "Can We Create a New Culture?" by J. Krishnamurti)

:smokin:

What do YOU think?

PS Nice quote. :smokin: