We are all one

[Obbe]

All of us are actually the universe itself. A person is no more than a wave on the surface of the ocean. It might look like an individual wave, but when that wave breaks on the shore and rolls back into the sea we realize that it was never separate from the ocean. And the whole entire ocean is "waving". You are not separate from the universe, all of us are just instances of the universe becoming self conscious before we roll back into unconsciousness. That is what God is to me.  The unity of everything, the unity of the inside with the outside, the unity of up with down, of self and other.

[millionsofdeadcats]

[Dionysus]

Awww sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.

[ibm]

New Age hivemind please go

[Obbe]

New Age hivemind please go

I'm not talking about anything new.  This is just the way it is.

[ibm]

If you propose that sort of unity then technically I should be able to know exactly what you are doing/typing/whatever right now.

[millionsofdeadcats]

It is like leaves on a tree, they are seperate but a part of the same overall structure

[Arnox]

In case anyone was wondering, OP is talking about Monism.

[FON]

If you propose that sort of unity then technically I should be able to know exactly what you are doing/typing/whatever right now.

Yeah, I'd argue that it makes more sense to consider ourselves as part of the Universe, not as the Universe itself, which seems to imply something more whole. Just like how a wave is part of the ocean, not the ocean itself. You could say 'you're the universe become self-conscious' but I find this to be almost meaningless. Despite 'being the universe' we remain isolated from other parts of our consciousness and unconsciousness. The only time we are self-conscious is when we are isolated within human bodies. Once we slip back into the unconscious part of our 'self' it seems like game over. Doesn't really do much for me, although it would probably be a cool thought to have on acid.

[Obbe]

If you propose that sort of unity then technically I should be able to know exactly what you are doing/typing/whatever right now.

That's not true.  Just because we are all one, doesn't mean we are omnipotent.  Where is the logic in that?  But we are all one because everything we do in some small way affects everything else.  Some people might prefer to think of us all as individual parts of a machine or pieces to a puzzle.  But the concept of individuality is not without flaws.  A puzzle piece is meaningless without the rest of the puzzle to complete the whole picture.  A human is not individual,  it too can be divided into various parts, but none of these parts ever came into individual existence all on their own.  A human is born whole and only later do we decide to cut up a body into various parts.   The universe is the same.  It's not some alien place that we somehow ended up in.  It's a part of us and we are a part of it, or we are it, depending on how you want to look at it, just like every cell in your body is you. You're not entirely conscious of every cell in your body and all the processes your body is performing but you don't need to be either.

[Arnox]

A system can be characterized by a group of things running together. Even in the best of times, humans can conflict with each other heavily and can destroy many things in their conflicts. So if we're all part of a system, it's a pretty terrible one. Like a human body where 25% of its cells are fighting one another.

[Obbe]

A system can be characterized by a group of things running together. Even in the best of times, humans can conflict with each other heavily and can destroy many things in their conflicts. So if we're all part of a system, it's a pretty terrible one. Like a human body where 25% of its cells are fighting one another.

It's a dog eat dog world.  The strong feed on the weak.  That's the way it is.  Doesn't mean we aren't all in this together.

Who defines how the world is supposed to run?  Just because you may not like what is going on in the world doesn't mean we don't exist in unity.   Just because people get cancer and babies die and wars are fought,  doesn't mean there is something wrong with "the system".  People get sick because that's how the world works.  People fight wars because that's the way it is.  Whether you're religious and believe it's all part of "God's plan", or logical and think everything is determined, this is the way it is and it isn't "supposed" to be running any other way.  We are all in this together and that's why the world is the way it is.  We are not isolated at all.  The self could not exist with the other.  Yin and yang only exist in unity, not separately.

[FON]

Obbe, you like quotes, right? Saw this on facebook.

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us 'Universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest. - A kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Einstein

[Zanick]

I want to be a tsunami then, one of those big waves that absorbs smaller ones, whips sand into your face and swallows surfers, overtakes buildings and knocks heads off children and then a shark comes through the second floor window and millions of Malaysian people are on the TV.

[Obbe]

Obbe, you like quotes, right? Saw this on facebook.

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us 'Universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest. - A kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Einstein

I agree with how he say that the feeling of being separated from the rest is an illusion of consciousness.  A human being is limited in time and space,  but a human being is not all that you are.  I am not just a person who somehow ended up in this place.  I am this place, which has the ability to become humans.