When Do You Begin?
September 18th, 2006 by Richard CockrumIt’s probably pretty clear by now that I’m a closet philosopher. Some people say I should have stayed in the closet.:-)
Be that as it may, I had a post all ready to go this morning about ways to look at who we are, where we come from, and where we’re going. As is my wont, before I actually published it i re-read it a couple of times to see if there was anything I wanted to change. As a result, it went back to my draft folder. I wasn’t writing what I was trying to say.
You see, it started as a questioning of the philosophy behind the belief that we create our own reality. Many people, including me, hold this belief. I don’t think they’ve thought it through, though. If you are born blind, did you create that reality? If you are born with spina bifida, did you create that reality? If you are born a woman in a culture that sees women as second-class citizens, did you create that reality? If you die in infancy, did you create that reality.
I believe in reincarnation. I believe the answer to these questions is yes. We may not consciously know why, but it gives us as individuals full control of who we are and where we are going. What if you don’t believe in reincarnation though? How do you answer these questions?
If you believe in god, did god create you the way you were, and you take it from there as best you are able?
If you are a materialist, is reality creation only for those physically and intellectually capable of grasping it?
When disease comes later in life, are you a victim or did you create it for some reason of which you are not conscious?
Some things are obviously the result of your own thoughts, attitudes, and actions. With others, the connection is not so obvious. Where do you draw the line?
What do you think?
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September 18th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Interesting questions, my views on self-responsibility for one’s own life have evolved, but only really changed once over the years, and fairly early at that. Let me state here I do not believe in reincarnation as a definite event, and so I do not accept the answer to the questions you asked as ‘yes’.
In the beginning latish highschool, early college, I believed in a ‘pure’ self-responsibility…until I thought of situations like the ones you mentioned above, along with others such as — being born addicted to drugs because your mother was, etc. This insight occurred for me while I was still in college, and since then my belief has always been a combination of nature and nurture :: genetic and environment. I’m a pragmatist in this sense; I’ve no clue where I was before I was born, nor where I will be after I am dead. I feel my responsibility is to live my life as strongly as I can and to help others do so as well.
I think perhaps this is where your view goes off a bit for me; it seems according to your view that if you treat someone else badly, it is because that is their reality. My question is what of your reality…I guess Karma comes into play a bit here, but I’ve still the sense that is a bit indirect and let’s you off the hook slightly.
Funny, I’ve only just realized here, in a new way, that Being self-responsible to me implies being responsible to others, and that perhaps their reality to some extent depends on your actons towards them.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:37 pm
[…] I’d not planned on posting at all today, as though I’ve 2 things I wanted to mention, I was going to sleep on them tonight to develop them a bit. Then I came across this post on the Shards of Consciousness blog. I really do relate to threads/posts like this, so I couldn’t resist commenting on it, and as I was commenting, I’d a new view of how to approach life. […]
September 19th, 2006 at 6:17 am
Thank you for stopping in, Summae.
Situations like the ones I mentioned, and you example of babies being born addicted are some of the reasons I do believe in reincarnation. To me it is more rational and less painful to hold this worldview than to see life as basically unfair.
You’re right.A corolary of this set of beliefs is that you treating someone badly is a reflection of their world view. On the other hand, it is more a reflection of your world view and says more about you than it does them. You can see http://www.shardsofconsciousness.com/articles/2006/06/your-life-your-greatest-work-of-art/ and http://www.shardsofconsciousness.com/articles/2006/03/your-mission-in-life/ for some of the ways I see this.
All in all, the whole purpose of this article was to make people think. It sounds like it worked for your.:-)