--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Nelson" <nelsonriddle2...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > So this post is a troll in that I am offering > > people an opportunity to WEIGH IN on this > > generalized subject. If you feel like it, WEIGH > > IN and tell us whether you feel that your opinion, > > or that of your preferred spiritual teacher or > > spiritual tradition, **IS** "better," "more > > correct," or "more authoritative" than anyone > > else's. > > > > IMO, it's OK to believe this. The whole *history* > > of spiritual belief and spiritual practice is based > > on the belief that one POV or opinion is "better," > > "more correct," or "more authoritative" than any > > other. It's OK to believe that this is a forum > > NOT composed of equals, and that some posters > > here -- and their opinions -- **ARE** "better," > > "more correct," and "more authoritative" than > > others. > > > > On the other hand, I don't personally believe that > > believing this makes it so. Me, I tend to believe > > that IT'S ALL JUST OPINION, and that > > none of those opinions are any "better," "more > > correct," or "more authoritative" than any other. > > > > But that's just my OPINION. > > > > What's yours? > > > > WEIGH IN. If you feel like it. > > snip, > Wouldn't an opinion based on sufficient experience and > observation be as good as a fact?
Assuming this is not a troll in itself :-), I'll WEIGH IN. I don't see how anyone could assume that. Although this is Just My Opinion, here are my reasons for holding it. 1. Define "sufficient" experience. Have you ever seen those consumer-protection TV shows where they take a car with one fouled spark plug that would cost $5 to replace to 30 different auto repair shops and get estimates from all of them? ALL of the repair shops are "factory certified." ALL of the mechanics are "suitably experienced." And yet the estimates come back ranging in cost from $500 to $5000 needed to repair the problem. Which one of these opinions is the "fact?" 2. What would "experience and observation" have to do with "fact" if it doesn't take into account the point of view and state of consci- ousness of the observer? Take a simple example: I was just walking along the beach and saw two girls walking along the boardwalk. Based on my experience and this observation, can I state "Two girls are walking along the beach" as a "fact?" Well, not in Sitges I can't. One or both of them could be a man in drag. :-) And that just takes into account the problems with "observation." Now let's throw POV and SOC into the mix. If the two girls really *are* girls and I say the same sentence above, is that a "fact?" Well, yes, you might say it is if I am in waking state or even Maharishi's CC. But now assume that I am instead in Maharishi's BC. At that point, do I still see "two girls" and "a beach," or do I see one field of Blazing Brahman, with no differences between the two girls, or the girls and the beach? I'm just fuckin' with the concepts here to have fun with them, Nelson. And as far as I'm concerned, it's just FINE if you believe that given sufficient experience and observation you or someone else could say something and have it be a "fact." Me, I don't believe that. I think that EVERYONE, *no matter what their experience and observation* merely has an OPINION about what they are describing, and that that OPINION is not necessarily "fact." This applies to the simple example of the two girls (I think they were both girls) walking along the beach, but now think of the complexities involved when someone who believes that they have "sufficient experience and observation" to do so declares another kind of "fact" -- "TM is the fastest, most effective method of realizing enlightenment on the planet." Or "A person in UC will definitely be able to levitate." You can go with "facts" if you want, but I'm gonna stick with pretty much everything that ANYONE says -- and for me that *includes* the enlight- ened -- merely being Just Their Opinion.
