163968599

Updated on spiritual thoughts. See below.
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I'm here to meet new friends and to share my online and life experiences through an intelligent dialogue. I love animals, especially dogs. Dogs seem to know this too. They always approach me with tails wagging and eyes sparkling. You know how animals seem to sense thing's we cannot? Well, they can sense I am really just a loving, caring person. I don't have a dog right now because I've been traveling so much, darn.
I'm fascinated with fancy gadgets, especially electronic ones. I was repairing televisions, radios and the like at the tender age of 11. Computers were right up my alley.
Long drives in the country with the windows wide open, or a cool hike in the mountains. Nothing is more relaxing than a brisk walk in a warm summer breeze.
I treasure the water, especially the ocean. I can crack a book and gaze across clipping waves for hours on end. Walking along the waters edge with the tide pulling warm sand from under my bare feet and through my toes is nearly sheer bliss.
I enjoy a good set of tennis or cracking a rack of pool balls fiercely. I PLAY HARD! I feel much like an inner child is aching to escape. I'm like Tom Cruise dancing along the edges of Old Time Rock And Roll in my boxers. Oprah, bring me a sofa and a cute puppy. I have a tremendous sense of humor and love to make people laugh. Seafood? Crab legs dripping in hot butter has to be the yummiest sexiest food ever.
I'm sort of a story in progress, because I feel the world is not an illusion, but bliss in knowing, and ecstasy in caring. Many think I'm a loner of sorts, sort of like a wolf. However the fact is I can be a bit shy without even knowing it, so chat me up to crack me open ok? A discussion with a friend says they don't think I'm shy. They think I am smart enough to steer clear of people until I have them sorted.
That makes sense....don't let the silly squirrels fool you if I may. I'm an existentialist, fairly intelligent and not a huge fan of wishy washy ideologies. I do believe in the conceptual manifestation of an existential attitude that begins with a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. For many people that is. HOWEVER!
Look around, take it in, discover true meanings and what you and the world are all about. There is no ONE concrete or abstract meaning of life, life is an individual experience. One persons right or wrong is not always anothers. We aren't here to be brainwashed, monopolised, stereotyped or pidgeon-holed. We are here to experience, enjoy, work and most of all LOVE LOVE LOVE.
As far as if were actually here or is it a dream? Get bitten by a squirrel, bleed, see if you feel pain. If you do not feel it and have most of your mental and physical health about you, well then you might actually be a dream or an illusion as some fools believe.
I for one prefer real LIFE with all the silly mundane cracker jack ordeals it brings me. And I will assure you it is very real ;)
Illusion?
I've been studying Nichiren Buddhism for roughly 3 years now. I find it very powerful and very satisfying. In as much so as to know deep in my heart that to be selfish enough to think my spirituality is the only which is true and right is way wrong. This is not religion! This is dictatorship. So I ask not that you be Buddhist, but that you please do your research on it. Compare it! Buddhism has been around since 600 B.C.E We believe in things which are and have been scientifically proven, and not myth or fiction. And do not believe in supernatural up in the skies. This is not to trounce other religions, far from it. I hope he/she who worships will explore their world in freedom, peace and harmony. Shine from within outward. Not what others make shine into you! = SGI members follow the teachings of Nichiren, a Buddhist monk who lived in thirteenth-century Japan. Nichiren's teachings provide a way for anybody to readily draw out the enlightened wisdom and energy of Buddhahood from within their lives, regardless of their individual circumstances. Each person has the power to overcome all of life's challenges, to live a life of value and become a positive influence in their community, society and the world.In Search of the Solution to Human SufferingNichiren was born in 1222 in Japan, a time rife with social unrest and natural disasters. The common people, especially, suffered enormously. Nichiren wondered why the Buddhist teachings had lost their power to enable people to lead happy, empowered lives. While a young priest, he set out to find an answer to the suffering and chaos that surrounded him. His intensive study of the Buddhist sutras convinced him that the Lotus Sutra contained the essence of the Buddha's enlightenment and that it held the key to transforming people's suffering and enabling society to flourish. The Essence of BuddhismThe Lotus Sutra affirms that all people, regardless of gender, capacity or social standing, inherently possess the qualities of a Buddha, and are therefore equally worthy of the utmost respect.Based on his study of the sutra Nichiren established the invocation (chant) of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as a universal practice to enable people to manifest the Buddhahood inherent in their lives and gain the strength and wisdom to challenge and overcome any adverse circumstances. Nichiren saw the Lotus Sutra as a vehicle for people's empowerment--stressing that everyone can attain enlightenment and enjoy happiness while they are alive. PersecutionNichiren was critical of the established schools of Buddhism that relied on state patronage and merely served the interests of the powerful while encouraging passivity in the suffering masses. He called the feudal authorities to task, insisting that the leaders bear responsibility for the suffering of the population and act to remedy it. His stance, that the state exists for the sake of the people, was revolutionary for its time.Nichiren's claims invited an onslaught of often-violent persecutions from the military government and the established Buddhist schools. Throughout, he refused to compromise his principles to appease those in authority.Nichiren's legacy lies in his unrelenting struggle for people's happiness and the desire to transform society into one which respects the dignity and potential of each individual life.
I still feel vividly about the no supernatural thing which is good for the following statements. Do not confuse religion with spirituality or supernatural events or beings.
If you think it is it not so (Descartes)?
Just so I don't confuse or bore you I will leave you with a little Søren Kierkegaard and Pascal..
Existentialism
Since it's difficult to click out of My Space I will quote a short bit from the Wikipedia article.
Enjoy!
Atheistic Existentialism
Atheistic existentialism is the form of existentialism most commonly encountered in today's society. What sets it apart from theistic existentialism is that it rejects the notion of a god and his transcendent will that should in some way dictate how we should live. It rejects the notion that there is any "created" meaning of life and the world, and that a leap of faith is required of man in order for him to live an authentic life. In this kind of existentialism, belief in a god is often considered a form of Bad Faith.
In this kind of existentialism, the way to face the absurdity of the world is to create a meaning for yourself. This creation of meaning ex nihilo doesn't degrade your meaning as such, as all meaning would be created meaning. In other words, creating a meaning of your own life is completely legitimate, as long as you do not base it in "objective" existence, or let it be the main "pillar" of your life. According to Kierkegaard, one would be in a perpetual state of despair (although it would be an unrealised despair that one would flee from whenever it showed itself) if one had some meaning (It doesn't necessarily have to be one single meaning; even a multitude of meanings is fragile) as the main pillar of one's life.
Two leading 20th century figures among atheist existentialists were Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.
Theistic Existentialism
Theistic existentialism is, for the most part, Christian in its outlook, because the way traced by Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, Karl Barth, Paul Tillich and others is even nowadays quite strong. But there have been existentialists of other theological persuasions, like Islam (see Transcendent theosophy) and Judaism. Unlike atheistic existentialists, they posit the existence of God, and that God is the source of our being. It is generally held that God has designed the world in such a way that we must define our own lives, and each individual is held accountable for his own self-definition.
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Either way you approach these very common approach's (Atheistic/Theistic Existentialism). They are not of the sort for a demanding, ruling "Super Being." They are quite simply of a more simple, realistic ideology.
Some modern day Atheists may argue this point however, and I am here to explain this last point but a web page will only go so far, just as written books. I think an actual banging of heads is the preferred method? Just for short I don't see how the two philosophies can sit on the same branch, or be derived from the same idea. This my friends I would call "wishy washy." Respectfully>>>
Pick you battles wisely, have respect for others religions. It quite might be all they have in life. Religion doesn't change in an instant. It takes time and much as life, anything worthwhile takes time and hard work.
I chose Atheistic Existentialism. When you exist for reality, and the wonderful, gorgeous things the world has to share with you without "the supernatural" having a hold on you, you can discover the true meanings of life >8~) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
=================Dido-Don't Leave Home===================
Robert Plant/Alison Krauss with Katie Couric 10.12.008