Metaphysical Beliefs » Point In Time http://metaphysicalbeliefs.com Everything Metaphysical and beyond Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:40:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 Review of the Ontological argument for the existence of God http://metaphysicalbeliefs.com/review-of-the-ontological-argument-for-the-existence-of-god/ http://metaphysicalbeliefs.com/review-of-the-ontological-argument-for-the-existence-of-god/#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:25:28 +0000 admin http://metaphysicalbeliefs.com/review-of-the-ontological-argument-for-the-existence-of-god/ Garuda Rising

Where the premise of crafting an ontological argument for the existence of God intersects with an epistomological understanding of possible knowledge was very conflicting for my attempt to intellectually asses these concepts. Nevertheless, having read Wittgenstein’s Tractus Logico-Philosophicus and understanding that he was simultaneously a logician and an advocate of the potential existence of the metaphysical, I deemed it worthy of more thought.

To craft an ontological argument of my own, I explored knowledge in every possible sense-mathematical, scientific, philosophical, spiritual, et cetera. What I came to was a conclusion that enabled me to confidently categorize a means of logical belief which does not assert anything unknowable.

In the development of the human species over time, one major break occurs in history: the dawn of an historic period upon the wane of prehistory. At this point, through the manifestation of language and its subsequent development into written systems, man was able to transcend his transitory nature by preserving his ideas for posterity to draw upon. Since this point in time, the collective body of historial knowledge has multiplied itself many times over, in order to create a massive well of insights, ideas, theorize, and facts into which any resident of the present age may tap. This is one understanding of something outside and truly larger than ourselves which may be connected with, to provide meaning and guidance; this could be called God.

Furthermore, if the theory of evolution holds, then the development of our cognitive species is the result of a mechanism which has guided constructive mutations since the earliest simple lifeforms. This mechanism is called Natural Selection, which, in its linguistic implications, characterizes Nature as a force (however scientifically explicated) which has guided the creation of the universe and of ourselves; this could be called God.

Lastly, and most obviously, is the sheer fact that the idea or concept of God exists. Thus, God must exist at least in that paradigm. But it goes further: through the historical development of means of expression, mankind has crafted various different forms of characterizing this notion of God. Though all of these differ in syntax and semantic meaning, the fundamentalk root concept is essentially identical. From this realization, two logical conclusions may arise: the first is that this is because God created man, man thus being in his image in the sense that man is a creative and intelligent being, and subsequently made himself (or better itself) known to man in some way; the second is that man, in need of making sense of his surroundings, coined the concept of God himself (after all, it must have been man who at least created the word for god), and thus, God is in man’s own image, freely creating the world in the sense that man himself created the idea to settle an unanswerable question that was unsettling to his cognitive and intelligent nature. In either case, the two are clearly co-dependent in the sense of having like characteristics, and in terms of reliance upon one another to be understood in some capacity, as well as to understand the world around us. In that sense, science itself could be characterized as a god, in that it is either a natural or a man-made means by which we may furnish a better understanding of the world.

Because of the necessarily ambiguous nature of exploring these concepts, the ontological argumant paradigm provides a good framework for analysis, but ultimately yields no new answers. In the end, it is epistomology 1, ontology 0.

]]> http://metaphysicalbeliefs.com/review-of-the-ontological-argument-for-the-existence-of-god/feed/ 0 Be the 100th Human to Create World Peace http://metaphysicalbeliefs.com/be-the-100th-human-to-create-world-peace/ http://metaphysicalbeliefs.com/be-the-100th-human-to-create-world-peace/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:45:21 +0000 admin http://metaphysicalbeliefs.com/be-the-100th-human-to-create-world-peace/

It may feel to many of us that we can do little at this point in time to help create peace in the world. However, by just being conscious of our thoughts we might, indeed, be able to move ourselves and the rest of the world just a little bit closer to this goal. We can find peace if we only become conscious of where we place our attention.

As the great Rebbe Nachman taught, “You are wherever your thoughts are. Make sure your thoughts are where you want to be.” I heard this same teaching in metaphysical circles many years ago expressed in a slightly different manner: Thoughts are creative. What we think about expands. Our thoughts attract what we want, which most recently has been called the Law of Attraction.

In other words, if we spend much of our time watching the news of war and terrorism and if we focus most of our attention on the lack of peace and joy in the world, we will find ourselves experiencing more war, terrorism, sorrow, and suffering. However, if we force ourselves to focus on that which brings us joy or makes us feel peaceful, we will find ourselves increasing our own joy and peace. In addition, the more joyous and peaceful our thoughts are – and, in turn, we are, the more positive energy we send out into the world. Our manner of thinking, therefore, becomes a form of “tikkun olam,” which in Hebrew means a way to heal or fix the world.

If enough of us focus our attention on joy and peace, maybe, like the 100th monkey, we can cause others around the world to experience more joy and peace. According to the story, one monkey learned to wash its potato in water before eating it and then taught others to do the same. When the metaphorical 100th monkey began washing its potato in the water, the rest of the monkeys suddenly began doing so. As if traveling in the collective monkey unconscious, this behavior jumped across the ocean and other monkeys in other places began washing their potatoes as well.

It seems we don’t need everyone to change to create change on a larger scale. We just need enough people to change. Imagine, you could be the “100th” human to transform your consciousness and create a critical mass, a metaphysical and spiritual quantum leap! And, “abracadabra,” world peace would become a reality.

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