The last chapter of Rational Mysticism was the best, the summary. And here I thought that the book was just entertaining.
When he wrote: “What can be ruled out is that science will answer the ultimate question: How did something come from nothing? Neither superstring theory nor any other of sciences so-called theories of everything can resolve that mystery, anymore than our supernatural theologies can.” My thoughts were that even though quantum mechanics agrees with some of the Hindu or Buddhist teachings, it doesn’t mean that everything else that they taught was the truth. These men, who in meditation learned certain truths, could not and did not know everything.
And then quoted from Jean Houston, and this quote was something that I found to be so true. It is in regards to taking something like LSD or having experiences of altered states of conscious like I had:
‘“People would get addicted to it and even refuse to explore their inner states without first without first taking a ride (LSD).” The experience enforced her suspicion that any spiritual practice or path—and particularly those emphasizing altered stated-can become an end in itself, which leads us away from reality rather than towards it.”
But the part that I could really relate to was this: “This world may seem drab in comparison…Instead of opening our eyes to the miraculousness every day reality and consciousness, psychedelics can blind us.” I think this is also true of meditation. People live for the experiences instead of living their lives. You lose interest in nature, in the world, and spend your time in meditation waiting for experiences. You lose interest in a life on earth and hope to be reborn in a higher realm.
Ken Wilbur said: “To be enlightened is to snap out of the movie of life.”
And then he talks about the “Oneness doctrine”. “When all things return to the one, where is the one returned to?” The reduction of all things to one thing is arguably a route to oblivion; one things equals nothing…The Hindu sage Ramakrishna said, “I want to taste sugar; I don’t want to be sugar.”
And last of all in the Epilogue: "Mystical theologies too often console us by devaluing our mortal lives. They tell us that we and those we love are as ephemeral as dreams, compared to the eternal, infinite nothing from which we came and to which we will return. If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up."
When I think of it I would rather experience life than be enlightened. And when I have watched people and listened to them, those that meditated, their entire life was about meditation. They all wanted to become enlightened—to not return to this earth because this earth was mostly suffering to them. Now many may disagree with me, but I remember thinking, especially when I was a Buddhist, that I wanted to enjoy life, not be bogged down with meditation and with believing that this earth is all suffering, even though it is for many.
And in questioning the hereafter he said of the Oneness doctrine, “Do we really want to live in a world in which there is not other, in which there are no selves but only a single Self?”
I think I am just more concerned as to whether there is a God or not. That may never be answered.
When he wrote: “What can be ruled out is that science will answer the ultimate question: How did something come from nothing? Neither superstring theory nor any other of sciences so-called theories of everything can resolve that mystery, anymore than our supernatural theologies can.” My thoughts were that even though quantum mechanics agrees with some of the Hindu or Buddhist teachings, it doesn’t mean that everything else that they taught was the truth. These men, who in meditation learned certain truths, could not and did not know everything.
And then quoted from Jean Houston, and this quote was something that I found to be so true. It is in regards to taking something like LSD or having experiences of altered states of conscious like I had:
‘“People would get addicted to it and even refuse to explore their inner states without first without first taking a ride (LSD).” The experience enforced her suspicion that any spiritual practice or path—and particularly those emphasizing altered stated-can become an end in itself, which leads us away from reality rather than towards it.”
But the part that I could really relate to was this: “This world may seem drab in comparison…Instead of opening our eyes to the miraculousness every day reality and consciousness, psychedelics can blind us.” I think this is also true of meditation. People live for the experiences instead of living their lives. You lose interest in nature, in the world, and spend your time in meditation waiting for experiences. You lose interest in a life on earth and hope to be reborn in a higher realm.
Ken Wilbur said: “To be enlightened is to snap out of the movie of life.”
And then he talks about the “Oneness doctrine”. “When all things return to the one, where is the one returned to?” The reduction of all things to one thing is arguably a route to oblivion; one things equals nothing…The Hindu sage Ramakrishna said, “I want to taste sugar; I don’t want to be sugar.”
And last of all in the Epilogue: "Mystical theologies too often console us by devaluing our mortal lives. They tell us that we and those we love are as ephemeral as dreams, compared to the eternal, infinite nothing from which we came and to which we will return. If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up."
When I think of it I would rather experience life than be enlightened. And when I have watched people and listened to them, those that meditated, their entire life was about meditation. They all wanted to become enlightened—to not return to this earth because this earth was mostly suffering to them. Now many may disagree with me, but I remember thinking, especially when I was a Buddhist, that I wanted to enjoy life, not be bogged down with meditation and with believing that this earth is all suffering, even though it is for many.
And in questioning the hereafter he said of the Oneness doctrine, “Do we really want to live in a world in which there is not other, in which there are no selves but only a single Self?”
I think I am just more concerned as to whether there is a God or not. That may never be answered.
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