Johnjr_esq: > Are you saying that we are gods? So, we > should enjoy everything that we do and > have here on earth? > So, you're not familiar with the Kama Sutra, or Brhaspati, Sanjaya or Gosala? Go figure.
In Indian philosophy there are Materialists, otherwise known as Realists, and then there are the Transcendentalists (composers of the Upanishads). Most of our knowledge comes through our eyes and sometimes our ears. Other forms of valid knowledge we get through the verbal testimony of others, inference, and through the scriptures, that is, anything that is recorded by any means, graphic or textual. To review: the valid sources of knowledge: 1. Sense experience. 2. Verbal testimony. 3. Inference. 4. Scriptures. Common sense, that is, sight, sound, hearsay, and the scriptures, are very often NOT valid sources of human knowledge. And why? The question is: "What are thoughts? Are thoughts physical objects that we can see with our eyes or hear with our ears? Are thoughts transcendental sources of valid knowledge? Thus came the Transcendentalists.