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Original post by Kwizatz
Well, first you have to prove a spiritual realm even exists, for all we know so called spiritual experiences are all linked to brain (mal)functions, this goes for the soul as well, there is no evidence there is such a thing as a soul, granted, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but if there was such a thing as a soul, you'd expect certain things to be easily demonstrable and reproducible, IE: Astral Projection.
I'm able to Astral Project. I don't expect you to believe that I can Astral Project just because I say so, though. But if you try to teach yourself techniques for Astral Projection, then you might be able to prove to yourself that these things are indeed real.
In my own mind, there is no doubt that these things are true, because I'm also able to foretell the future.
For example, I can do this:
1. See a future event in one of my dreams.
2. Write that event down on a piece of paper.
3. Observe that event happening either the next day, or even months later.
This proves to me without a doubt that there is more to this universe than meaningless existence.
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Original post by Kwizatz
how come there are none of these creatures which are "able to manipulate their surroundings purely by thought" around?
This is step three - planet Earth is a step three classroom. Step four students inhabit planets specifically dedicated to step four lessons.
If step four students were able to inhabit the Earth and levitate at will, wouldn't that completely destroy the entire atmosphere of the step three classroom which is about separation and amnesia?
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Original post by Kwizatz
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Original post by polymorphed
I'm sure I won't have to explain why a human life is more complicated than an animal one.
Ah! but you do, because you see, we are not any more complicated than an animal, in fact some organisms are much more complex than us genetically, for example the genome size of an amoeba is 670,000,000,000 base pairs, while the human genome is 3,200,000,000, now that's quite a difference, isn't it?
But never mind that for a moment, what really seems to differentiate us from the rest of the animals in matters of intelligence is our brain to body mass ratio, which simply put is the ratio between the brain mass and the whole body mass, we happen to be the ones with the largest ration in this planet, followed by dolphins, so it seems that all species are potential candidates to reach our level of intelligence or even surpass us.
But even if they did, I don't see how a higher BTBMR could give any organism telekinesis, the idea of telekinesis in the real world is just absurd to begin with, but lets think for a moment, the idea here is getting abilities beyond those of a human, well... cats have natural night vision, dogs can perceive a wider range of sound waves and bats move around using sonar, these are, according to you, "inferior" life forms right?
Instead of thinking about complexity as a function of the size of the genome, imagine that complexity is linked to that creature's ability to offer spiritual lessons. A human is able to understand more complex topics than an amoeba can, like the topic of, say, moral. A human can rationalize whether an action is moral or not, but an amoeba does nothing but follow its instincts.
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Original post by Kwizatz
Well, again, there are some things we would expect to come about if things were like you say, in this case, you'd expect to remember past lives or at least life regression would be accurate, because, after all if we're here to go through school, we should keep the lessons learned wouldn't we?
You keep your lessons in the form of a modification to your essence or personality. Your day-to-day consciousness is like the tip of an iceberg sticking up from the sea. You can access the deeper levels of this iceberg with techniques such as
past life regression.
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Original post by Kwizatz
How convenient it is that we must reincarnate with a clean slate, of course I don't buy it
A clean slate allows for a fresh perspective on every lesson. Whenever you begin a new lesson at school, you like to open a fresh page to write notes down on, don't you?
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Original post by Kwizatz
where are these step 4 creatures you talk about? sounds like we would be overpopulated by them.
Another planet/classroom.
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Original post by Kwizatz
Also, how is that efficient? why does it have to be that way? there doesn't seem to be a definitive purpose for this whole charade you paint.
If you were intimately aware of the deeper connection to the universe, how could you ever choose the negative orientation?
This veil of forgetfulness and separation creates a very intensive experience which is very efficient at forcing entities quickly into an orientation.
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Original post by Kwizatz
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Original post by polymorphed
So, the fact of the matter is that just because you experience a remarkable isolation in your physical human body right now, that does not prove that the universe is not one single Creator.
It doesn't prove that it is either.
Your free will is free to decide. Separation or unity?
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Original post by Kwizatz
Again, because we're overflowing the world with these beings right? I'll just keep hoping for probable abilities thank you (camouflage,night vision,super hearing, sonar, flight, breathing underwater, a glowing butt, ok, maybe not that last one [smile])
They're in another classroom. Does mixing 10th graders with 1th graders sound like a good idea to you?
Giving a 1th grader the ability to modify its surroundings purely by thought would be like handing a grenade to a monkey.
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Original post by Kwizatz
Oh, right, because there is so much and vast evidence that UFO's and the paranormal are real and James Randi gave away his million dollars years ago... wait a minute.
This million dollar prize was never intended to be awarded to anyone. If someone gets close to winning it, they'll change the rules at the last minute to prevent it from being won. James Randi and his gang of comedians are a joke.
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Original post by Kwizatz
At this point, I wont bother repeating myself, just where is the tangible evidence for this process?
There is no tangible evidence for it being true, but neither is there any tangible evidence for it being not true. This is the whole point of step three - amnesia and uncertainty. You're supposed to interact with your surroundings as a result of your personality, not reasoning.
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Original post by Kwizatz
So, basically masturbation is the whole purpose of the universe.
If masturbation is an analogy to entertaining one's self with itself, then sure. The stroking process, whereby the actual entertainment is derived, is a bit more complex, though.
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Original post by Kwizatz
Ummmm so you built a highly complex belief which ends up with the same practical application of "there is no purpose to the universe", Occam's razor all the way.
There is a purpose to the universe, which is that each entity should be allowed to find its own way back to the Creator using its own free will.
This free will allows an entity to choose how it advances spiritually.
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Original post by Kwizatz
Of course!, I wouldn't expect otherwise.
I'm glad that we at least agree on something.
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Original post by Kwizatz
You clarified a bit how your belief is constructed, you didn't provide any valid evidence for it's claims, so I am sorry, but to me this just seems to be another "finding the questions for the answers" belief system, like thinking human noses are so shaped to accommodate for glasses, it has no solid foundation whatsoever.
Talking about noses are made for glasses - this is exactly what the scientific community are doing to explain near death experiences. Instead of actually studying them, they try to come up with ideas for why they are impossible.
