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wobblerlorriYou know, this is so weird. I'm in the midst of a discussion on (of all things) a Harry Potter forum, wherein the topic is "are people now more evil than they were 500 or 1000 years ago?" Apparently deep philosophical realizations can come from the most prosaic of places...
My premise is that "good" and "evil" are simply constructs of the human meat-brain to approve or condemn certain behaviors that the current rulers deem useful or not useful respectively. Usually these behaviors and their approval/condemnation are codified by the religious community, which is generally an arm of the government. Inheritance customs are also a prime mover of these codes.
Now then, my point is that humans, as purely physical bags of skin, meat, bone, blood and shit, have an innate drive to survive until tomorrow and reproduce themselves. In order to do that they will scheme, injure, and kill other humans who are perceived to be in the way. Civilization has forced us to find other ways to channel the hurt-kill-eat-fuck drive that are socially acceptable, but until we realize this about ourselves, everything we do is driven by hurt-kill-eat-fuck emotions.
On the other hand, we aren't just meat bags; we are also spirit. Our spirits (or souls, if you will) have an innate drive to perfect themselves. In the early stages the spirit seems to believe that an external construct is required for this -- hence the creation of religion. Eventually the spirit comes around (after several steps toward perfection) that continued evolution towards the perfected state must come from within, and not without. Perfection involves, in my opinion, the release of emotion, and freedom from the pressure of the hurt-kill-eat-fuck imperative of the meat bag.
Spiritual evolution occurs in baby steps, and another step is gained each time we realize that the meat-brain is driving us rather than the spirit. The ultimate goal is to be completely guided by the spirit rather than driven by the knee-jerk reactions of the meat-brain.
Do I sound Buddhist? Perhaps. I still don't believe in a god of any sort, but there have been evolved teachers in the past, and there will be in the future. At any rate, it works for me.
Just thought I'd share.
My premise is that "good" and "evil" are simply constructs of the human meat-brain to approve or condemn certain behaviors that the current rulers deem useful or not useful respectively. Usually these behaviors and their approval/condemnation are codified by the religious community, which is generally an arm of the government. Inheritance customs are also a prime mover of these codes.
Now then, my point is that humans, as purely physical bags of skin, meat, bone, blood and shit, have an innate drive to survive until tomorrow and reproduce themselves. In order to do that they will scheme, injure, and kill other humans who are perceived to be in the way. Civilization has forced us to find other ways to channel the hurt-kill-eat-fuck drive that are socially acceptable, but until we realize this about ourselves, everything we do is driven by hurt-kill-eat-fuck emotions.
On the other hand, we aren't just meat bags; we are also spirit. Our spirits (or souls, if you will) have an innate drive to perfect themselves. In the early stages the spirit seems to believe that an external construct is required for this -- hence the creation of religion. Eventually the spirit comes around (after several steps toward perfection) that continued evolution towards the perfected state must come from within, and not without. Perfection involves, in my opinion, the release of emotion, and freedom from the pressure of the hurt-kill-eat-fuck imperative of the meat bag.
Spiritual evolution occurs in baby steps, and another step is gained each time we realize that the meat-brain is driving us rather than the spirit. The ultimate goal is to be completely guided by the spirit rather than driven by the knee-jerk reactions of the meat-brain.
Do I sound Buddhist? Perhaps. I still don't believe in a god of any sort, but there have been evolved teachers in the past, and there will be in the future. At any rate, it works for me.
Just thought I'd share.
