FREE WILL

So, what about free willy? "Do you believe that you have control over your destiny? If you do not, then you are more prone to bad behavior." (Free Will / free will)

John decided to holiday in Sousse because his upbringing and heredity have determined that Sousse is his kind of place.

In other words, a 'causal chain' led John to Sousse.

It can be argued that John was not forced to go to Sousse, and that in a sense his decision was 'free'.

It can be argued that 'conscious, determined decisions' are 'free will decisions'.

It turns out that there was trouble in Sousse, and John had made a bad decision.


"If there is an explosion in a public place, hotel, or shopping mall, you should know that it is the Tunisian special forces who planned it." Thus said El Hocine Khafi, a former official at the Ministry of Interior of Tunisia.Une base militaire américaine à la frontière tuniso-algérienne.

William decided not to holiday in Sharm el Sheikh, even though his upbringing and heredity have determined that Sharm el Sheikh is his kind of place.

Why does one person make 'wrong' decisions and another make 'right' decisions?

Chance or randomness can affect our decisions.

Quite by chance, William had come across a travel exhibition and discovered that there were at least a dozen places better than Sharm el Sheikh.

The chance visit to the travel exhibition broke the 'causal chain' and allowed William to make a better choice.



Philosopher Daniel Dennet says you can exercise free will by doing something unpredictable.

This could mean going to Paramaribo rather than Las Vegas.

Daniel Dennett says determinism and free will are not incompatible.

Does free will really exist?

There is simple causation (one ball hits another one and it causes the second one to move) and causation that results from careful thinking.

A criminal might commit a crime 'because he was born criminal and brought up criminal."

But, the criminal is free to do the 'unpredictable' and to be good.

The criminal is free to think about his actions.

You can be unpredictable.

You can avoid being manipulated.

"Freedom, of the important kind, of the kind worth wanting, is freedom from being manipulated."

Does free will really exist?

Who are the people who are being manipulated and who are therefore not free?

It is mainly the ultra-conservatives, the extremists and the fundamentalists.

Think of the fundamentalist Jew who is not free to marry a Moslem.

Think of the White racist who is not free to make friends with a Black neighbour. 



You could argue that William's 'guardian angel' led him to the travel exhibition.

You could argue that people are only 'free' when they are tuned in to 'the Holy Spirit'.

Why does one person make 'wrong' decisions and another make 'right' decisions?



Some Taoists would argue that every 'thing' and every 'action' is a mixture of 'good' and 'evil'.

Both Sharm el Sheikh and Paramaribo have their 'good' and 'bad' bits.

According to the Taoists, everything in the universe is single, whole, but composed of opposites.

"Taoists believe that nature is a continual balance between yin and yang, and that any attempt to go toward one extreme or the other will be ineffective, self-defeating, and short-lived."

What Taoists Believe

The Buddhists would argue that 'ignorance' is the cause of bad decisions and suffering.

Socrates would agree.

The Buddhists would also say that our sense of being a separate 'self' is an illusion.

"The death of his younger brother, Edmund, from measles on 2 February 1900 deeply affected Hitler. He changed from being confident and outgoing and an excellent student, to a morose, detached, and sullen boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers.... After his father's sudden death on 3 January 1903, Hitler's behaviour at the technical school became even more disruptive, and he was asked to leave in 1904."

Alvin Plantinga defends God with his "free will defense"

"It is possible that God ... could not create a world with free creatures who never choose evil. 

"It is possible that God .... would desire to create a world which contains evil - if moral goodness requires free moral creatures."

Jesus said that 'some seed fell on stony ground'.

Is that just bad luck?

One can speculate that if God is going to create 'a real world', then, as with a game of golf, there has to be an element of chance.



Discoveries in 'Quantum Physics' suggest that 'determinism' may be wrong.

The movement of 'particles' cannot always be predicted.

Dostoevsky points to characters who do bad things, knowing that they are bad, in order to assert their uniquness and independence.

Some might say that God does not have this burden, as, presumably, he is incapable of choosing evil?

Dostoevsky, and others, seem to suggest that all creatures go through a long learning process, which can involve suffering, in order to achieve enlightenment.



But what about 'justice'?

Let us assume that there is a God who is 'just' and 'fair'.

Jesus said that 'some seed fell on stony ground'.

How can God ensure that those who, by chance, have gone astray, are rescued from their bad luck?

For life to be fair, every single soul has eventually to reach perfection and salvation.

And every single soul has to experience the same range of 'ups' and 'downs'.



Life magazine reported (The Mystery of Chance):

On 1 March 1950, all the fifteen members of a church choir in Beatrice, Nebraska, due at practice at 7:20, were late.

For example, one couldn't start her car; and one mother and daughter were late because the mother had to call the daughter twice to wake her from a nap.

At 7:25 the church building was destroyed in an explosion. The members of the choir, Life reported, wondered if their delay was "an act of God."

...

To the Hindu, we are all part of God; our sense of being a separate individual, such as John or William, is an illusion; and all our souls eventually join up with God.

According to The Upanishads, the Hindu New Testament (Life And Death Explained?):

God is within all the created world (immanent) and outside all the created world (transcendent).

God becomes immanent (within all) until the end of evolution when the immanent has all again become transcendent (outside the created world). The created world evolves into the transcendent God.

Why? 

For the joy of creation.

Why is there evil? 

For the joy of good arising from it.

"Eventually suffering destroys the ego."

A Quote by Eckhart Tolle on suffering.

Why darkness? That the light may shine more.

Why suffering? For the instruction of the soul and the joy of sacrifice. 

Why the infinite play of creation and evolution? For pure joy.

The Buddhists teach that "it is only conventionally, not ultimately, true that we are persons."

Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine.

NUMBERS - NUMEROLOGY

...

Numbers give us clues, but do not take away our free will.

"The recurrence of number sequences is a subtle and constant reminder that something Divine is happening.

"When you see the number sequences (‘Angel Numbers’), acknowledge that the angels are telling you that you are on your true path."

ANGEL NUMBERS

What about ANGEL NUMBER 13?

ANGEL NUMBERS

"Number 13 is the number of traditions, hard work, organisation and right judgement.

"The Number 13 is also a feminine number and suggests that you tap into your intuition.

"Angel Number 13 is a message from your angels that some 'upheavals' may take place in your life.

"This is happening for karmic reasons and will break new ground for you that will bring about new opportunities for you to grow spiritually.

"The angels ask that you adapt to changes gracefully.

Angel Number 13 may be a 'blessing in disguise'.

"Angel Number 13 is a message from your angels that you are being guided and assisted with your soul mission.

"Trust that the angels are by your side as you go through transitions that will bring into perfect alignment with your Divine life purpose."

...

ANGEL NUMBER 18

18

"Angel Number 18 is a message of encouragement and support from your angels.

"They ask you to think only positive thoughts to do with prosperity and abundance.

"When you have high expectations and maintain a positive attitude the angels and Universal Energies help you to manifest your highest ideals and achieve success in all that you put your intentions and efforts towards.

"The angels want you to know that positive things are manifesting around you at a rapid rate.

"Your angels ask that you not stress about present circumstances, as ‘better’ is on it’s the way into your life.

"Do not fear lack or loss as the end of a situation or cycle denotes the beginning of another. The angels ask you to have faith and trust in them, and in yourself.

"Angel Number 18 also tells you that if you are considering beginning (or expanding) a spiritually-based practice, career and/or profession or service-based venture, now is a most auspicious time to do so."



Numerology 0

"Number 0 is the mother of existence. Everything comes from this void, this inexplicable, dark, eternal womb. 

"Nobody has 0 as their life path or destiny number – this number is the number of the Universe itself. We are all children of 0."

Numerology: Meaning of Numbers

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68
69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87
88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

What Is Reality?

Explaining Free Will.

A creates B.

B creates C.

And C creates A.

Thanks to Kaivey for the link.

THE MEANING OF LIFE

There is a belief that life is a learning process.

Everyone has their 'dark side', which needs to be put right.

Think of 'a loving and caring individual'.

This 'CARER' can be nurturing, supportive, sympathetic, loving and reliable.

But, if you know this person well, you may be aware that sometimes they still have lessons to learn in life.

Sometimes, they may be "bossy, critical, interfering, perfectionist and self righteous...

"And jealous and small-minded... and smug and arrogant, especially toward authority figures or institutions."

Meaning of the number 6.

Sometimes this CARER can be "annoyingly self-righteous and an intolerant..."

Sometimes they "suffer from anxiety and insecurity, even phobias." 

Sometimes they are self-centered and egotistical at heart.

Sometimes they get very angry "if those at the receiving end of their care do not show the attention that is craved."

Meaning of the number 6.

There is a belief that life is a learning process.

Numbers give us a clue.

Martin Rees is the top man at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Rees believes that six numbers shape our universe.

If these numbers were different, there would be no life.

"The measure of nuclear efficiency, ε for epsilon, has a value of 0.007. If it had a value of 0.006 there would be no other elements."

Rees, an atheist, believes that there are likely to be many universes and that it was just by chance that our universe had the right numbers.

A number of scientists believe in parallel universes.

Multiverse.

Some scientists believe that it is Mind that creates universes.

These scientists believe that MIND creates MATTER.

8 Studies That Show How Consciousness Affects Reality.

So, Martin Rees's mind could produce a world where things are different.

What clues are provided by numbers?

"Numerology is based on the idea that each of us is a spiritual being, or a soul, who incarnates many times in order to further evolve toward higher states of awareness."

Numerology.com.

Some little kids can tell you about a previous life.



We are going to look at 'personal year numbers.'

To get your number, add up the numbers in your date of birth.

For example, if you were born on 01/ 02/ 1903, your personal year number is 1 + 2 + 19 + 3, which equals 25 which you reduce to 7 (by adding the 2 to the 5).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

There is a belief that numbers can give us clues as to how we should lead our lives.

There is a belief that Numerology points to 'life' having a meaning and purpose.

Some people believe that each number has a unique energy.

Western numerology was invented by the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras.

Pythagoras discovered connections between music and numbers.

St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) wrote that "Numbers are the Universal language offered by the deity to humans as confirmation of the truth."



According to most Numerologists:

Everything can be expressed in numbers.

Numbers correspond to vibrations.

(Quantum Physics teaches that everything is vibrating energy.)

There is more than one numerology system.

The Chinese I Ching is widely practised in the Far East.

dailymail / Numerology Index


George Washington and Dick Cheney - Life Path Mumber - 1

We will concentrate on Western numerology.

What do the numbers mean?

You do have Free Will.

So, the number 1 means you can, if you choose, be:

A tolerant and patient leader who is pioneering, courageous, innovative, self-motivated and determined.

But, the number 1 also means you can, if you choose, be:

A leader who is Impatient, Intolerant, Controlling, Competitive and Aggressive.


Obama and Tony Blair - Life path Number - 2

If your Life Path Number is 2

You can choose to be a 'healer' who is intuitive, loving, supportive and understanding.

Or, you can choose to be moody, hypersensitive, insecure, jealous and indecisive.


Hilary Clinton - Life Path Number - 3

If your Life Path Number is 3

You can choose to be an 'entertainer' who is humorous, imaginative, creative, friendly and charismatic

Or, you can choose to be an 'entertainer' who has scattered thinking and who is attention-seeking, gossipy, melodramatic and too critical of people.

Bill Gates is Life Path 4

If your Life Path Number is 4

You can choose to be a high quality worker/manager/builder/planner/policeman who is hard-working, organised, responsible and focused.

Or, you can choose to be a worker/manager who is inflexible, intolerant, pessimistic, stubborn, and narrow-minded


Angelina Jolie - Life Path 5.

If your Life Path Number is 5

You can be an adventurer who is resourceful, multi-talented, adaptable, charismatic and a good communicator.

Or, you can be an adventurer who is unfocused, intolerant, addictive, melodramatic and changeable.

...
Michael Jackson and George W Bush - Life Path 6.

If your Life Path Number is 6

You can choose to have a career that involves being nurturing, supportive, sympathetic, loving and reliable.

Or you can choose to have a life that involves being bossy, critical, interfering, perfectionist and self righteous.


Lady Diana - Life Path 7

If your Life Path Number is 7

You can choose to be problem solver who is intuitive, intellectual, analytical and technically minded.

Or you can choose to be intolerant, secretive, cynical, pessimistic and suspicious.


Paul Newman - Life Path 8.

If your Life Path Number is 8

You can choose to have a valuable job creating career that involves being organised, self-motivated, driven, strong and hard-working.

Or you can choose to have a career that involves being domineering, intimidating, superficial, manipulative and wealth-conscious


Ricky Martin - Life path 9

If your Life Path Number is 9

You can have a career involving helping people by being sympathetic, generous, passionate, broad-minded and compassionate

Or, you can choose to have a life that involves being unforgiving, revengeful, defensive, melodramatic and aggressive.

Read more: dailymail.


"He's a 9 Life Path number so he means well in all he does since 9 is the justice-seeking humanitarian number. 9's are some of the most generous and caring people." Website for this image

On 9 11 (11 September 1973) the CIA put Augusto Pinochet into power in Chile.

On 9 11 (9 November 1989) the Berlin Wall came down, an event organised by the CIA and its communist counterparts.

On 9 11 (11 September 1990) President Bush gave his State of the Union Address about the New World Order

On 9 11 (11 September 2001) the Twin Towers came down, aided by the CIA and its friends.

911 days after 9/11/01 the Madrid Bombings took place (3 11 2004)


Is she a 9?

You can use Wejee's free numerology calculator and reading to work out your numbers!

Numbers represent certain things:

1 unity creation independence

2 duality emergence

3 power, generative force

4 solidity

5 sensuality pleasure

6 perfection harmony balance

7 mysticism magic psychic

8 material success, justice

9 spiritual, mental achievement

The numbers 11, 22 and 33 are master numbers.

Chaldean Numerology.



Below we offer some more stuff about numbers:

"Thirteen is ... the ancient number of completion. Thirteen is considered to signify the end of a cycle, as evidenced by the fact that there are thirteen lunar months in the year and thirteen signs in the Celtic and Native American systems of astrology.

"While thirteen foretells new beginnings, it also signifies that outmoded systems must come to an end to make way for much needed transformations."

Numbers, Numerology, The Hermetic Universe



1.618033988749894848204586834366

"The golden ratio is an irrational number, approximately 1.618, that possesses many interesting properties.

"Shapes defined by the golden ratio have long been considered aesthetically pleasing in Western cultures, reflecting nature's balance between symmetry and asymmetry and the ancient Pythagorean belief that reality is a numerical reality, except that numbers were not units as we define them today, but were expressions of ratios.

"The golden ratio is still used frequently in art and design. The golden ratio is also referred to as the golden mean, golden section, golden number or divine proportion."

Golden_ratio

The ancient Greeks knew of a rectangle whose sides are in the golden proportion (1 : 1.618 which is the same as 0.618 : 1).



Phillip S. Mitchell wrote:

The twelfth century Italian mathematician, Leonardo P. Fibonacci, observed a predictable sequence of all natural development as shown by a progression of numbers:

1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ad infinitum.

[1 + 0 = 1] [1 + 1 = 2] [2 + 1 = 3] [3 + 2 = 5] [5 + 3 = 8] [8 + 5 = 13] etc.

The Fibonacci Sequence demonstrates the idea that each stage of natural growth or development refers to its prior state in order to take its next evolutionary step. (This is not unlike Piaget's principle of rapprochement in child psychology.) It also follows the Phi Ratio

Geometry

Numerology is the study of numbers, and the way in which 'they reflect certain aptitudes and character tendencies.'

numerology.



Michael Hayes, at New Dawn magazine, wrote about 'The Hermetic Universe'.

The Hermetic Universe.

Hayes has been puzzling about the meaning of life.

Hayes introduces the 'Hermetic Code'.

It's all about numbers and their relation to everything from music to religion.

Hayes refers to pi which is 22/7, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.

"22/7 is ... an expression of three consecutive octaves of resonance. An octave ... comprises seven fundamental notes: Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti. The eighth note, Do, a repeat of the first but with double the pitch frequency, is the first note of the second octave. Accordingly the eighth note of the second octave – again, Do – is the first note of the third. Taken together these three octaves contain twenty-two notes...

Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-Do.



According to Hayes:

Three, the number of the Trinity, is the number of octaves encoded in pi.

Four is the number of base-notes (Dos) in three consecutive octaves.

Seven is the number of intervals between the notes of the major scale.

Eight is the number of individual notes in the major scale.

Twenty-two is the number of notes in three consecutive scales or octaves.

The three octaves incorporated in pi are each sub-divisible into three octaves apiece, giving an inner formula of nine octaves, or sixty-four notes.

So eight is the constant, and sixty-four, is the square of it.

Hayes calls 'this musical pattern of symmetry' the Hermetic Code, after the Greek god of wisdom, Hermes.

Hermetic Universe



Hayes believes the 'pi symmetry' is found in the Great Pyramid.

The number three is important throughout the universe: the three main constituents of atoms – protons, electrons and neutrons, the three primary colours of the spectrum of light....

And the number eight... eight particles to each octet

Hermetic Universe



Superstring theory 'describes all particles in the universe as infinitesimally small strings made of a kind of vibrational energy.'

Superstring theory - eleven different dimensions : three spacial, one temporal, and seven others of increasingly acute curvature...

'There are eight degrees of manifestation or modes of movement inherent within the string itself....'

"In the genetic code there are four kinds of fundamental chemical bases... It takes three of these bases to make what is known as a triplet-codon, an amino acid template, of which there are precisely sixty-four variations...

"Universal harmony is also reflected in the ever present number seven...

Hayes sees the Hermetic Code as a blueprint of the structure of the universe, DNA molecule, and life itself.

Hermetic Universe



In China the chapters of the I-Ching were numbered using a combination of eight three line symbols called trigrams.

Confucius talked of the Eight Steps of Learning.

The Vedas described the nature of reality as being supported by a system of proofs, of which there were considered to be eight fundamental types.

Buddha had the Eightfold Path.

Hermetic Universe



Hayes writes that "the Hermetic Code, the design plan for everything existing – particles, cosmic concentrations, living cells – is applicable literally everywhere, not only in the wider universe, but also, as we see from esoteric traditions going back over centuries and millennia, in the ephemeral realms of the collective human psyche.... Everyone, quite literally, is a miniature universe...

"If we assume, therefore, that the universe is itself an organism, a living entity, and that we are all copies of it, then this would imply that the more advanced products of an organic brain – ideas, theories, concepts – are also in their own way alive, they are metaphysical genes, as organic as the brain from which they originate.

Hermetic Universe



"The ancients of the remote past, in my view, seem somehow to have understood this, which is why they devised a musical mode of existence in the form of prescribed disciplines and rituals which enabled them to psychologically conform to the laws and forces controlling evolution.

"This is precisely why religion was first invented – to instil into the collective consciousness of humanity the necessity of harmonising one's inner faculties according to the principles of the Hermetic Code.

"The aim was quite straightforward, it was an attempt to complete the natural course of one's evolutionary and psychological development by living-out a harmonious existence and ultimately transcending on to a higher plane, a greater musical scale above.

"This greater scale, a wholly scientific concept describing a higher dimension of existence accessible to the trained mind, is the heaven expressed in all religions."

newdawnmagazine.com/Hermetic Universe



Enneagram is a diagnostic tool for working out what you are really like.

ENNEAGRAM

1 Reformer

I do everything the right way.

2 Helper

I must help others.

3 Motivator

I need to succeed.

4 Romantic

I am unique.

5 Thinker

I need to understand the world.

6 Skeptic

I am affectionate and skeptical.

7 Enthusiast

I am happy and open to new things.

8 Leader

I must be strong.

9 Peacemaker

I am at peace.

MIND - JEREMY BENNETT

...

..

EXISTENTIALISM

...

The philosophy of Existentialism considers that:

Human beings are free to choose:

(1) to do right or wrong

(2) what to value

(3) how to live.


Existentialists consider that:

A. The world is not orderly or meaningful.

B. Human beings have no pre-existing or set nature or character. 

C. Some people may be born handicapped, or Black, or White.

But everyone is free to be a good or a bad person.

Soldiers are free to disobey orders.

D. Instead of getting our code of behaviour solely from dodgy ancient gods or texts, we should look inside ourselves.

E. Each individual has to work things out for himself/herself and then lead the appropriate life.

On Being An Existentialist

...

Søren Kierkegaard was the first Existentialist philosopher.

Kierkegaard came to believe that, by the 19th century, Christianity had deviated from its original meaning of 'mercy, humility and loving-kindness'.

Kierkegaard equates God with Love.[3]

Thus, when a person engages in the act of loving, he is achieving an aspect of the divine.

When an individual does not come to a full realization of his infinite side, he is said to be in despair.

"Kierkegaard was an unhappy, neurotic, and terribly suffering man."

Soren Kierkegaard.

...

Where did Kierkegaard perhaps go wrong?

Kierkegaard said that you feel anxiety because you see that you and you alone are responsible for your actions.

Kirkegaard often had doubts about God.

Imagine if Kierkegaard had tuned into 'something outside himself' and become a happy nurse or doctor.

Imagine if Kierkegaard had been less obsessed with himself.

...

Existentialists believe that when you're born, you have no meaning and no purpose.

Existentialists believe that there is no 'morality' in the world, other than the 'morality' that individuals create from inside themselves.

In other words, morality is not part of the fabric of the world.

Many Christians, Buddhists, Taoists and Humanists would argue that there are signs of ethical behaviour in the world of nature.

...

Friedrich Nietzsche was an existentialist.

He believed that life is 'will to power'.

This idea has appealed to some Nazis and Zionists.

Jean-Paul Sartre was an existentialist.

"Sartre believed that since there is no God to design man, man has no blueprint, no essence. 

"His essence or nature comes not from God as Creator but from his own free choice."

Sartre by Peter Kreeft.

...

Albert Camus did not consider himself to be an existentialist, although his ideas seem identical to those of the Existentialists.

Camus wrote The Stranger (L'Étranger,1942).

According to Camus:

"In a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger.

"His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land."

This is the problem with most Existentialists.

They generally reject such things as Reincarnation, the Holy Spirit, the Tao and all things Serendipity.

...

Some people believe that our minds co-create reality.

ESCAPE THE FILTER BUBBLE.

GOD

DEVOTION - GOD

aanirfan.blogspot - alexa rank - #330,097 (18 Aug 2015). 

~~

NON ATTACHMENT; HEALING

...

A hospital doctor enters a ward for sick children who have a variety of ailments and disabilities.

Ideally, the doctor avoids being infected by any 'germs' that the children might be carrying.

Ideally the doctor avoids being 'infected' by any physical and emotional pains that the children might be suffering from.

There are a lot of children with 'problems'.

In the USA, 'child disabilities due to neurodevelopmental and mental health problems have increased greatly.'

'Nearly six million kids had a disability in 2010 - almost one million more than in 2001.'

dailymail

If we were to be infected by the physical and emotional pains of all these millions of children we would be in trouble.

However, we can have an influence for good on someone who is suffering.

1. Scientists have discovered that pairs of tiny particles can be invisibly connected even when they are some distance apart.

When the scientists carry out an action on one particle, the other particle is instananeously affected, even though it is many miles apart.

A Dutch team has proven that 'spooky action at a distance' is real.

dailymail.

2. According to some research at Princeton University

We can mentally influence - and are influenced by - the thoughts of others.

We can mentally influence biological processes in bodies other than our own.

We can mentally influence the functioning of non-biological systems.

The Next Great Turning - Context Institute

Sia Furler's 'Chandelier', from the album 1000 Forms of Fear, suggests mind-control?

3. A team of psychologists from Saint Louis University claims that stress can be spread from person to person like a virus.

We can be infected by the stressed person's odour, posture, facial expression and tone of voice.

The researchers put the participants into pairs.

One member of the pair had to make a public speech and the other had simply to watch the speech.

The researchers measured the levels of cortisol and a stress-related salivary enzyme in both the stressed speaker and in the observer.

The researchers found that the stress response in the witnesses was 'proportional to that of their paired speakers'.

ABC. / dailymail.

Saint Louis University is associated with the CIA's MK-ULTRA mind control programme.

Now, if stress can spread like a virus, so too can love and healing spread like a virus.

Can we feel compassion without feeling some of the suffering of the person in distress?

1. Imagine the doctor entering the hospital ward.

It does not help if the doctor is shaking and weeping.

The good doctor, while feeling compassion, detaches himself from suffering.

The good doctor detaches himself from his selfish ego.

It is the selfish ego which produces anger, grief, worry, and despair.

The good doctor is positive, loving and calm.

This helps the sick patient.

schweitzerfellowship.wordpress.com...

2. Imagine you are the pilot of a passenger plane which has just been struck by some dangerous emergency.

It does not help you, nor the passengers, if your ego feels extreme fear.

On the other hand, a little fear might prevent you from taking foolish risks.

A game of golf would not be real if there were not some minor irritations; but you want to avoid the extremes.

3. Imagine you are the parent of a child who has just been killed by agents of the US government.

Ask yourself - why does the government carry out such acts of terrorism as part of its 'Strategy of Tension'?

They want to get you angry with, and scared of, the 'terrorists'.

When people are scared they will obey their 'big brother' government.

So, detach yourself from fear and anger.

Fear and anger make you sick.

4. There may be times when we are hit by extreme fear, anger, grief, worry and despair.

But we should practise non-attachment to such extremes.

This means not holding on.

michaelwilliammcdonald.blogspot.com ...

5. We should practise non-attachment to lots of things.
"All the delightful things of the world - sweet sounds, lovely forms, all the pleasant tastes and touches and thoughts - these are all agreed to bring happiness if they are not grasped and possessed.

"But if you regard them merely as pleasures for your own use and satisfaction and do not see them as passing wonders, they will bring suffering."

-Sutta Nipata

Blog: Pleasure and Joy

6. It is not a good idea to 'suppress' our feelings.

Research shows that people who are able to talk about their grief, anger or fear get rid of these negative feelings more quickly.

People who are not able to talk about these feelings are more likely to suffer ill health, mental or physical.

The 'good doctor' has the knack of being non-attached to grief, anger or fear when he enters the ward.

Some people get angry when there is a long queue at the airport.

Some people learn not to get angry.

They are not supressing their anger; they just don't feel anger.

We see ourselves as separate selves.

Our body feels the pleasures and pains of life.

Imagine switching out of the SELF mode into the NON-SELF mode.

In the NON-SELF mode there is no grasping of pain or pleasure.

But this is difficult for our minds to imagine, just as 'infinity' is difficult to imagine.

Some people write about the dangers of talking about the Oneness of everything.

"Holding to both the oneness and multiplicity of existence takes greater spiritual maturity...

"It requires being present with the moment with all it's paradox and radicalness.

"Experiencing both the bliss and sorrow of existence takes greater spiritual maturity...

"It requires us to be present to the entire situation of existence, our own and all others.

"In terms of our tradition, we describe this as the dance between emptiness and form and our path as the willingness to experience both and their mutuality.

"The main emphasis of our path is to show up wakefully to the play of emptiness and form..."

Not Duality is Not Non Duality | School of Yogic Buddhism

North Korean kids. By Benoit Cappronnier

Is life fair?

Why does one person apparently 'choose' to be 'good' and another person apparently 'choose' to be 'bad'?

According to some philosophers, our actions are either determined by matters such as heredity and environment, or they are a matter of chance.

Brazil. By carf

It suits the top criminals to believe that their 'wicked' actions are purely the result of heredity, environment and chance.

But, we do know that when people believe in some kind of 'free will', they do tend to behave better.

Ireland 1932. By pantufla

Some people have suggested that only one 'entity' has real free will.

And only that one 'entity' is good.

That one person is 'God'.

Or the Tao, or the Force, or the Holy Spirit, or the divine...

Paradoxically, it may be that if we give up our supposed 'free will', we can then follow the will of 'God' (or go with the flow, tune into the Tao, realise that we are part of 'God') and live happily ever after.

By Alexander Macfarlane

The Buddhists would say that our sense of being a separate 'self' is an illusion.

Blog: Pleasure and Joy

By maria dupovkina

This raises the question of why we are not all tuned into 'God' already.

One can speculate that if God is going to create 'a real world', then, as with a game of golf, there has to be an element of chance.

By IWGIA

Of course, things may always have existed.

The Buddhists would argue that 'God' may not be the best term to use.

Some Buddhists are not keen on the idea of a creator God.

By © Jamie Mitchell

Some Taoists would argue that every 'thing' and every 'action' is a mixture of 'good' and 'evil'.

"Taoists believe that nature is a continual balance between yin and yang, and that any attempt to go toward one extreme or the other will be ineffective, self-defeating, and short-lived."

What Taoists Believe

By Valery Titievsky

The Mohist philosophers in China believed that the purpose of life was universal, impartial love.

Mohism promoted a philosophy of impartial caring - a person should care equally for all other individuals, regardless of their actual relationship to him or her.[48]

Is free will an illusion?

Ruben V Rial-Planas writes

"We can test the problem with my most perfect identical twin: myself!

"Trying to remember the most important decisions I took in my life, I ask myself what I would have done if I had had the possibility to relive again any of the decisive moments of my life - with the same imperfect knowledge and with the same external constraints I had.

"The results of analyzing my perfect twin’s behaviour are, in my opinion, absolutely clarifying: reliving my life would have rendered a life identical to the one I actually lived.

By rongpuk

"I can distinguish between two types of events as determinants of every minute fact that occurred in my life.

"Some were the result of conscious decisions, in many cases taken as the result of an evaluation of pros and cons (always with incomplete knowledge of the real situation).

"As it is impossible for me to take stupid decisions (the stupidity defined by myself), I was forced to decide in a determined way, searching the best results.

"In other cases my behaviour was the result of random and/or uncontrolled external factors. In the first case I would repeat my action; in the second, my response would be forced.

"However, if the external random factors would be the same, I also would repeat my action

By Mayank Austen Soofi

"So, the life of my identical twin entirely repeating my own life shows that I never had a true free will...

"My identical twin shows me the inescapability of Hume’s fork: My actions are either causally determined or random.

"In either case, I am not free."

By babasteve

Etienne Vermeersch writes (Is free will an illusion?):

"Ruben Rial Planas shows in his 'twin analysis' that he has made two types of decisions in his life: 

"Those which were conscious, determined decisions.

"And the others 'the result of random and/or uncontrolled external factors'.

"To my astonishment he concludes: 'In either case I am not free', although he just made a brilliant analysis of the really free decisions: the conscious determined ones."