Immortality? A question for you.

[davey]

perhaps humanity was just an experiment all along and the human race as we know it will just expire one day soonish?

 

[sailormann]

The Gospels are not as synoptic as people make them out to be. They all have their own agenda, and the first, ascribed to Mark, has the transfiguration exactly in the middle of the Gospel. From then on, Jesus descends, not just the mountain but into arrest and crucifixion. Essentially, this is a perfect example of a tragedy in Greek tradition. It also figures because the history of thought shows how each time someone brings along a new paradigm, someone in authority doesn't like it, and very often, that person ends up incarcerated or killed.

I'm quite sure that Jesus was bringing a new paradigm into the situation his people found themselves in: Let love transform you! We don't have to rebel against occupation and oppression but rise above it by reaching out and forgiving each other. We don't need another military hero but a healer who teaches people to pull together. We don't need religious militants but a therapeutic society, which lifts people out of suffering and shame. The wisdom traditions have said this for millennia.

Buddha was purportedly asked by a king whether he could conquer another nation. Buddha sent people into that country, and they came back saying how kind the people were and how they cared for the old and the weak. Buddha said to the king, "You may defeat their army, but you'll never conquer that population!"

Immortality is overrated - it is love that widens and deepens our lives, bringing together what has become estranged, healing the wounds, opening our eyes, and uniting us with the sacred.

Yes, that goes a long way in describe something which cannot be described or contained by words in any meaningful way.
As for essence, to me that is the very spark of life which resides within and animates us all. It is our feelings, our emotion, our intention. It is who and what we really are, and all we get to take with us on our journey as we transition from one state of being to the next. Our perception of being distinctly different and individual beings, like a little skin encapsulated ego, is an illusion. We are all one.
Once we truly understand this we tend to treat each other with much more respect and love. We all are that I Am That I Am.

 

[Stoppelmann]

Yes, that goes a long way in describe something which cannot be described or contained by words in any meaningful way.
As for essence, to me that is the very spark of life which resides within and animates us all. It is our feelings, our emotion, our intention. It is who and what we really are, and all we get to take with us on our journey as we transition from one state of being to the next. Our perception of being distinctly different and individual beings, like a little skin encapsulated ego, is an illusion. We are all one.
Once we truly understand this we tend to treat each other with much more respect and love. We all are that I Am That I Am.

That is really the point, isn't it? If we discuss the nature of existence, we are using metaphors permanently.

I don't believe physical life is heading toward an intended goal, but life is reaching out, investigating, and looking for more experience. I get the feeling that we are part of a whole and, thereby, are one and, simultaneously, the very many.

The spark might be that life force or what we essentially are, and our bodies are like costumes in a play - just props. Our bodies act out the emotions and react to circumstances, but the essence or spark watches patiently to see how it plays out.

I think the ego is the survival instinct and part of the body, which is why we often notice that the ego demands that we are individuals and that survival is important above all. Once we realise we are not permanently in danger, we begin to relax and learn to give a little more.

 

[sailormann]

That is really the point, isn't it? If we discuss the nature of existence, we are using metaphors permanently.

I don't believe physical life is heading toward an intended goal, but life is reaching out, investigating, and looking for more experience. I get the feeling that we are part of a whole and, thereby, are one and, simultaneously, the very many.

The spark might be that life force or what we essentially are, and our bodies are like costumes in a play - just props. Our bodies act out the emotions and react to circumstances, but the essence or spark watches patiently to see how it plays out.

I think the ego is the survival instinct and part of the body, which is why we often notice that the ego demands that we are individuals and that survival is important above all. Once we realise we are not permanently in danger, we begin to relax and learn to give a little more.

I just heard a good one. I think it was Victor Frankl who said: The meaning of life is to give meaning to life.