Self-enquiry

[Pluto]

Special request: no trolls. Please let those with an openness to the topic engage.

I was watching this dialogue today and have found it to be one of the most accessible and practical explanations on the topic of self-enquiry. Both participants are doctors. For anyone who has been put off by the apparent complexity of the Indian history, culture and Sanskrit normally associated with this topic, the interviewee is very approachable to a Western audience. I plan to look into his work further as I have felt stagnant in recent times.

As a brief primer, the premise of nonduality/Advaita is that our everyday sense of being an individual self, which forms the basis for our entire worldview and identity, is completely false. This grand illusion disappears upon investigation through the question 'Who am I?' The true Self that remains cannot be described or conceptualised, so must be experienced directly via following this method in order for liberation to occur.

 

[timf]

It sounds like advocacy of replacing the phrase, "I think, therefore I am" with "I feel, therefore I am".

If this provides a more solid foundation for you, great.

 

[whatevs]

It sounds like advocacy of replacing the phrase, "I think, therefore I am" with "I feel, therefore I am".

If this provides a more solid foundation for you, great.

Cogito ergo sum is hyped up nonsense. We know we exist because we want, not because we think. Schopenhauer rulez. It's the Will that's behind existence, not the mind. The mind is a fragile and short-lived appendage.

 

[rationaltake]

Cogito ergo sum is hyped up nonsense. We know we exist because we want, not because we think. Schopenhauer rulez. It's the Will that's behind existence, not the mind. The mind is a fragile and short-lived appendage.

The mind gives us our experience of existence.

 

[whatevs]

The mind gives us our experience of existence.

The plants have no mind and they exist. And they are experiencing something. Having no mind, they have a will, the will to exist. Basically my qualm isn't with the idea that thinking 'proves' that we exist, but rather that thinking is something inherent to existence or base level to existence, when most animals feel that they exist in a rudimentary fashion (fear of death) without having thoughts.

 

[rationaltake]

The plants have no mind and they exist. And they are experiencing something. Having no mind, they have a will, the will to exist. Basically my qualm isn't with the idea that thinking 'proves' that we exist, but rather that thinking is something inherent to existence or base level to existence, when most animals feel that they exist in a rudimentary fashion (fear of death) without having thoughts.

How do we know plants experience something? I think Descartes was talking about the idea of a self. He was talking from a Christian point of view. He wouldn't have been published at the time if he didn't. Do animals have an idea of a self? Can a biological response be called will?

 

[motel rooms]

How do we know plants experience something? I think Descartes was talking about the idea of a self. He was talking from a Christian point of view. He wouldn't have been published at the time if he didn't. Do animals have an idea of a self? Can a biological response be called will?

Soap-in-Shower's Will is a confusing misnomer for the inner essence of everything, the great primal force/impulse devoid of knowledge which causes a blind, unconscious/irrational/instinctive, aimless, endless craving/striving in all of nature.

 

[whatevs]

Soap-in-Shower's Will is a confusing misnomer for the inner essence of everything, the great primal force/impulse devoid of knowledge which causes a blind, unconscious/irrational/instinctive, aimless, endless craving/striving in all of nature.

Damn, dis man has done his homework. Wow. Aced it. Your chimp can certainly act as arrogant as possible.

How do we know plants experience something? I think Descartes was talking about the idea of a self. He was talking from a Christian point of view. He wouldn't have been published at the time if he didn't. Do animals have an idea of a self? Can a biological response be called will?

Plants communicate with each other and have a basic aversive/appetite apparatus. That implies feeling. All life is feeling something, the lower you go the more vague and diffuse, but still an "experience" of sorts. A rock cannot feel the sun or strive towards it, it's unfeeling.

Yes, you're right, plants are not sentient. More animals aren't. It requires a very developed central nervous system.

 

[GentleJerk]

Plant consciousness is a thing. Ask the natives in the Amazon.

Apparently all living things have a consciousness.

 

[Pluto]

I think the below thread on Reddit (link) sums up the whole dilemma.

I feel like I've lost interest in everything and everyone on this planet. Can't believe the stuff I used to care about. It's kind of embarrassing. Not sure what else to say. Silence is better. Peace to you all.

 

[motel rooms]

Plant consciousness is a thing. Ask the natives in the Amazon.

Vegans are murderers too!