Amen to that, Brother Edg. From what I've read, Sagan was an atheist.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung <no_reply@...> wrote: > > "The cosmos is within us. We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the > cosmos to know itself." -- Carl Sagan > > To which I seriously respond: Nope. It is from the Self that all this has > come into being. The universe is perhaps describable as a mirror of its > radiance, but the Self knows the Self and no mirror is needed. > > Now, I'll try to defend this statement. > > See modern science for details. Singularities, for instance. > > We know not the universe -- except for: > > Our faint awareness of the ridiculously tiny titch of it inside our ittty > bitty brains. > > A billion, nay, billions and billions of years hence, even then, Carl would > agree, so much would remain undiscovered by the best minds using the best > instrumentalities -- the universe being so huge. > > When it comes to having ultimate knowledge, only the Self can be considered > the final arbiter of truth, since it was from Self that all else arose. > > I sure didn't really actually know this, until way way way late in life. > Mostly I said such things as a form of wishful thinking. > > Pssst: You want to know, right? I should just tell you now, right? You don't > want to have DECADES of seeking before you too find out the hard way, right? > > Question: Are you sentient and reading these words right now? That is, is > that which has always been the witness to your thoughts, here right now? Are > you, here? Are you YOU????? > > To which you say, "Of course, I'm here. If anyone would know if I'm here or > not, it certainly would be me. I absolutely have forever and always been THE > ONLY knower of my thoughts, THE ONLY feeler of my feelings, THE ONLY one who > can rifle through my memory banks, THE ONLY livingness of this body/mind > system. > > Therefore: Let no one seek the Self -- for all know the Self. All are the > Self. And all that came from the Self can be only be SELF! > > Why? Because nary a person in all of history can describe the Self in any way > that anyone else would not also recognize it to be a description of their > Self also. It is the SAME SELF. Just as two pots under water can be said to > be filled by the same ocean. > > Glasses on the nose being sought? Riding a hippopotamus looking for a > hippopotamus? > > For all of anyone's life, ANYONE'S, there is only one Self attending that > "history of localized sentience." > > It has never been lost, right? It's here right now, right? > > If you are not enlightened, NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN. You are complete now by > your own admission. You do not say that you are half a being, half a soul, > half a mind. You say you are here and have always been the one who is here. > And you are CERTAIN that you will always be the "you" of the system you're > witnessing.....no "other you" is possible. > > Limbs can be lopped, senses muted, consciousness attenuated -- but the Self > is unaffected. > > One says, "I am sick." > > But, but, but what EVERYONE means is, "I am FULLY HERE completely intimate > with the operations of this body/mind system, which at present is askew, and > it is in a process of healing, during which thoughts may come and go, dreams > may prevail at times, there may be variance in clarity, and consciousness > will not always RECORD these almost endless doings, but all these processes > may be a flurry of obfuscation and yet not dent my being CERTAIN that I AM > STILL HERE. RIGHT NOW. > > Deny the above, and when you're 50 years older, tell them that I told you so, > and that you should have considered the topic more deeply and saved yourself > a whole lotta fuss and bother and tossing mucho buckazoids into collection > plates. > > This sermon thus endeth on this last Sunday in 2012 -- The Year Of > Unnecessary Dread >
