In the past I used to think I was "good" and righteous when I was so angry and full of hate that I wanted to murder who I thought were the "worst of the worst" kinds of people on this planet, like the war criminals for example and others who would ruthlessly harm and destroy innocent lives for their own pleasure and gain...
But, now I realize that sometimes it's the people who think they are good that can be some of the most "evil".
I tend to think even Hitler and most of the big name politicians throughout history and major military peoples probably all think or thought that they are/were good and doing what is most noble to defeat what they see as "evil".
To my understanding the word Satan in Hebrew is translated as "adversary".
So... I think the more you see adversaries or enemies out there in the world the more you will have "Satan" in your life.
Though, if you can learn to love everyone and not have anymore enemies to go fight and kill, then... Perhaps you will find true peace and you will find "Satan" less in your consciousness and existence.
If you can learn to see that virtually everyone is struggling in their own ways and that virtually everyone is doing what they think is best for themselves even if it seems evil to you... Then, I think you will likely be much closer to true peace within yourself even if the outer world is still very chaotic.
And, I think it starts there... Within yourself, for how can you create a more peaceful and loving world if you are consumed with rage and trying to kill and destroy what you don't like?
There will always be enemies out there to find if you want to find them. Yet... The biggest enemy is within yourself, and... It knows you so well that the only way you can likely "win" is by giving it a hug and loving it instead of trying to kill it or defeat it. ❤️
That is a very wise insight you can have about yourself. It seems to be the beginning of a path that you personally do not seek to ward off.
Man is all too quick to consider any newly discovered wisdom as "already understood and living by it" for himself, while he is perhaps still in the infancy of such great wisdom and must be careful not to pass on what he has learned to others. The wise, I hear again and again, are unwilling to share their "secrets" in this regard because the words are twisted in their mouths and made into weapons. So, they are not easy to find and not easy to understand.
I think that "love your enemy as yourself" should first be reflected back to self-love. Is it the case that the one who takes this saying seriously is one who can love himself at all? Do you love yourself?
Such love needs to be renewed and reminded again and again in every single encounter. The doctrine of Buddhism has a lot to offer for this.
The moment when one has defeated someone with words or deeds is not really a victory, because where there is a winner, there is always a loser, but both have lost. Unless the loser shakes hands with the winner with a light heart and admits that he erred. But if the winner does not consider the matter settled with an equally light heart, and only basks in the other's loss, he will interpret it as weakness on the part of the one who shows himself defeated. Therefore, if the competitors consider the contest a welcome challenge from the outset, they are already wise. In this sense, yes, I see the term "Satan" as one who is an adversary and you can either make the worst or the best of him. In mythology Satan is being seen as a fallen angel and acts from then upon as the great disturber between the other angels and god. Even god needs a counterpart :)
I recently saw a Formula 1 film in which Niki Lauda and James Hunt went down in motorsport history as rivals. They only hated each other on the surface, as it seems or the film conveys. But in their depths they appreciated the other as an opponent who spurred them on to superhuman deeds for themselves. You can say what you like about motor sport, but the proximity to death makes it a special kind of sport. Like any extreme way of dealing with life.
Great article, highly appreciated, also the comment section which I find almost even more worthwile to follow. :)
Hey again. I thought I was responding to this comment the other day, but I responded to a different one I think you directed at the other guy I was chatting with. Oops!
So, thanks again for the comment. Umm. I appreciate the kind words and agree with what you're saying in the first paragraph.
Self love is the way that I managed to come to these realizations, it wasn't until I loved myself deeper that I was able to extend that love to everyone else.
I've thought similar thoughts quite a bit... And I'm not totally absolute in my ideas here... I used to run a contest here and I eventually felt conflicted because some people had some bad experiences with losing and it made me want to move away from competition to cooperation, but I do still think there is wisdom to be gained from competition and that it has it's uses, though I once again generally agree with what you've said especially if we're all "one"...
I see you mentioned a part there about " if the competitors consider the contest a welcome challenge from the outset, they are already wise. " so, yeah... If the competitors have a healthy understanding then that can work! Though, sometimes I suppose there is also wisdom in having to go through that more egoic loss as well.
I think I may have seen that movie you mentioned and that's an interesting example!
it reminds me of a quote I saw in the anime show Naruto where someone said something like... "The two things that make you strongest in life is having someone to protect and having someone to compete against".
Thanks for appreciating the article! And also the conversation as well, I agree! Definitely a lot of interesting things to think about. :)
HaHa! That's alright. :D
You mean the moment when the ego is defeated that it makes one humble? Yeah, that's true. When I am able to put my ego aside, I feel that it is not so difficult to shake hands to the winner.
I find this is true for also one and the same person :)
By the way, I remember we have had some contact quite a time ago. I lost track of you but then found you again. I myself am not posting regularly as I used to do.
I will check up on you once in a while.
Thank you, too, for being open minded.
Indeed.
Yeah, I remember talking with you and I appreciate your perspective on things! It's nice to chat with you again. Apologies if I didn't respond to everything, I got really backed up on my messages recently and am quite busy. I'm hopefully going to respond to everything when I get time. Just quite overwhelmed.
Thanks for checking up on me, and you're welcome for being open minded!
Hope all is well! :)
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Thanks for the feedback and glad you think it was well said! :)
That's interesting that you also have a similar philosophy, it seems like we have a lot in common in regard to philosophy! Bummer to hear you're having some issues with the tech, hope you get it figured out!
I really like this view point. Resonates with the teachings of Jesus as well.
One of my favorite philosophies is Ubuntu. A term that came about in South Africa and Zimbabwe roughly translating to "I am, because we are". I find it keeps me grounded when thinking of great "evils". They've been sculpted by their own experiences just like you or me, unfortunately those experiences lead them down an awful path. But its a path that any of us would have also went down given the same experiences and brain chemistry.
Thanks for sharing some of your perspective. :) And, yeah... I think it does resonate with the teachings of Jesus based on what I've learned about such, would be quite a conversation to have to talk about him about some of these kinds of things if he really existed in a historical sense. :)
I've heard of Ubuntu before and I think it's fascinated me for quite a while. It was more difficult for me to understand in the past when I was super individualized, but the more I learn how we are all connected the more it makes sense to me.
Also, I really like what you said about how any of us would likely went down the same path if we had the same experiences and brain chemistry. I tend to agree! Though, some people believe we have souls we are born with that would cause us to do things differently, I don't know what's true and not sure science could prove such a thing, but I tend to think what you said sounds more logical... But, who knows... Maybe we do have souls that make us different regardless of experiences, brain chemistry etc.
I went to your page briefly and see you made your first post either on that account or your first post and I wanted to welcome you, I shared your post and read a little bit of your it, but am really tired and about to go to sleep... So, I'll do my best to read the whole thing tomorrow and give you a thoughtful response. Looks like an interesting read though! I look forward to checking it out more later. Cheers! :)
Certainly possible, I have come to the belief that either a god in some form (not necessarily anthropomorphic, or even aware of itself) exists, or reality is far, far stranger then anyone could hope to understand. Super evolved alien or not. I started losing faith in anything making sense around the time I discovered time dilation. Does make reality a nice playground for intelligence though.
Appreciate it! I used to post a couple years ago, back before hive split off. Looking to go much further then I did back then though. I'm starting with re-writing a series I started but didn't do enough justice, and hoping to take it far further then I did back then.
I would say that I respect anyone's belief who believes differently especially since I don't think it's something that can be proven scientifically and will likely always remain in the realm of theory and belief.
I already outlined my thoughts in the OP and watching that didn't change my opinion, the way he thinks is similar to the way I used to think.
I guess I would just clarify a little bit that in regard to my beliefs that just because I'm trying to not see enemies or evil does not mean that I don't believe in self defense or that we shouldn't try to create a better world.
I think we can defend ourselves and others and work towards a better world without characterizing others as enemies or evil.
The last thing I would mention is that I feel like divide and conquer is one of the techniques the people in power use to stay in power and control so much of the world and that the "good vs evil" creates a lot of division, I'm reminded of a YouTube video I watched which helped me come to this conclusion where a woman was claiming that movies like the "Matrix" were programming us into this mindset of "good vs evil" and that they glorify the mindset of there being a sort of "holy or noble hitman"... I doubt I'll be able to find that video again because YouTube has become so censored and difficult to find things of such nature, but I'll look real quick and see if I can find it.
Bummer. Wasn't able to find it. Oh well.
Not really because I said in my OP I'm trying not to see evil.
If you were playing a board game or a video game it might be helpful and I've done similar before in games, but in a real world context... With the people in power using it against innocent people, it does seem immoral to me or corrupt/misguided.
This can get a bit into semantics at this point, though I tend to think of evil in this context as some kind of spiritual Christian concept as opposed to things that humans just dislike or are averse to. For example I can dislike something without thinking it's evil. Hopefully that makes sense.
I don't. I think maybe you misread what I said.
However, I wanted to get more familiar with the word so I looked at the etymology and it says this... "In Old English and other older Germanic languages other than Scandinavian, "this word is the most comprehensive adjectival expression of disapproval, dislike or disparagement", so it does appear to be a high level of dislike in the eyes of some.
Well, that's my subjective opinion and I think morality is subjective, it's possible there is a universal morality and I'm very open minded to that, however I don't pretend to have all the answers or know everything so I try to come at it from a subjective perspective and in my subjective perspective I feel like "love" and "honor" are preferable, so to me anyone who doesn't choose love and honor are misguided... And, I myself am misguided sometimes... I don't pretend to be perfect, though I think it's wise to try to strive for love and honor and those who don't are misguided in my opinion. Hope that answers your question.
I think I've seen a few of his videos, but I'm not subscribed and don't know much about him. Why do you ask?
I don't think so. Got a link or title name for me to check out?
I disagree. I said I came from a similar understanding as his, but not the same.
He claimed his way of looking at evil was "as an abstract concept or exaggerated word", whereas while I wasn't looking at it in a Christian-esque manner I still believed that there was a sort of "good versus evil" energy out there and that what some people did was evil even if I didn't believe in Satan or the Devil in a literal sense.
Furthermore he did not begin from where I am now because he never mentioned anything about what I said in my OP about trying to not find enemies in the world in relation to the Hebrew translation of the word Satan, so I'm not sure why you say that... I kind of doubt he even knows the hebrew translation of the word.
Either way, the order of which one came to their realization is no indication of the veracity of such realization and I could use your same reasoning and say what you said in reverse order.
I admit I don't know what the truth is, it's simply my belief and my belief could change again in the future if I saw compelling enough evidence.
In regard to him realizing a deep truth, I suggest reading godel's incompleteness theorems as it's a mighty task to 100% prove much of anything let alone something spiritual and which will likely always be beyond the realm of scientific quantification. We both believe things, I doubt anyone will ever be able to 100% prove such things.
I don't feel like repeating myself again, but I disagree. I think it's similar but not the same and I could once again say that I came from a view similar to what he has now and I feel like I evolved to a more favorable understanding. However, once again the order at which one changes their beliefs does not indicate veracity. I do often find it interesting how that works though and how people can change their beliefs in the opposite direction like that.
Well, to me it's not abstract. It's very defined. I'm specifically dealing with a definition which is like the opposite of abstract.
I just looked up the modern definition and etymology and the modern definition actually seems to support what you're saying, but the etymology supports what I said... So... I guess it depends on how you interpret the words... As I mentioned the semantics can get a bit confusing sometimes.
I think that can vary from person to person.
My previous self would say that it's impossible to not judge things in such manner. But, in recent times I've been experimenting with and exploring the concept of non-judgment and trying to understand it better and the popular argument I've heard is that people try to use the word "observe" instead and in a neutral manner to sort of expand the possibilities involved instead of to narrow the possibilities.
If you can theoretically observe without judging you leave room for more growth and learning instead of sort of "cementing in stone" a given subject or idea.
If you believe something is 100% the truth you eliminate all other possibilities and I am trying to keep my mind open to the possibilities.