Soul-Catching Net: Are We “Recycled” at Death to Remain in the Matrix? // The Alien Agenda - Simon Parkes 2015

[Wind]

Posted by loveoflife (here)
This is an amendment to my post No 69 here. https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...l=1#post973824

The civilisation mentioned in the Vedas was highly intelligent, and more advanced scientifically and spiritually than we are today, they had a sophisticated society while others races were nomads. They were a race guided by Brahmins who were also powerful mystic yogis and many powers and weapons were derived from mystic siddhis. India is a pale reflection of what this great race once was as is humanity today in comparison with the descriptions of humans in the Vedas.

Also known as the Lemurians and Atlanteans.

[loveoflife]

Posted by Wind (here)

Posted by loveoflife (here)
This is an amendment to my post No 69 here. https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...l=1#post973824

The civilisation mentioned in the Vedas was highly intelligent, and more advanced scientifically and spiritually than we are today, they had a sophisticated society while others races were nomads. They were a race guided by Brahmins who were also powerful mystic yogis and many powers and weapons were derived from mystic siddhis. India is a pale reflection of what this great race once was as is humanity today in comparison with the descriptions of humans in the Vedas.

Also known as the Lemurians and Atlanteans.

Ancient Indian texts mention Lemuria. https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...ention-Lemuria.

The Lost Continent of Kumari Kandam

[Cidersomerset]

Ancient Indian texts mention Lemuria. https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...ention-Lemuria.

The Lost Continent of Kumari Kandam

Yep those 'pesky' Lemurians are still with us and
still among us . I can't remember if anyone asked
Ion if they were anything to do with the Annunaki ?

I'm pretty sure they are not and just another more
reptiliion/human living alongside us after arriving
from Lemuria thousands of years ago. There are
many questions unanswered still . How did they
get here ? Do they still have the higher tech ?
Ships etc ? and so forth......



Listen on link...http://halkinnaman.com/ed/audio_rr/i...ard_people.mp3



http://ionandbob.blogspot.co.uk/2013...rd-people.html

Bob Dobbs’ private session 267, 24 August 2010.

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...617#post777617

[Cidersomerset]

Last weeks video cast is quite relevant to part of this thread , very interesting imo.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YeL_ki1aWCk

[Cidersomerset]

This is sychrinistic the next vid on the U'tube link , for the pod cast above
is this relatively new interview I have not to listened before.Its titles The
Archons , who serve their inter dimensional reptilian masters , which is
one of the 'Biggest secrets' to quotes one of Davids early books on the
of the mysteries of our 'wider reality'....

This is very good as he explains the parallel of Reptilian and Human royal
obsession with 'Ritual' in many forms. From pomp and ceremony , living
habits , when they stay in which palace etc....

He does go into the esoteric and higher awareness and explains how we
should escape from the low energetic vibrational state , humans have been
subjected for thousands of years in this perception maitrix and much more.....

Excellent interview , you may of heard some of this before , but its worth
a refresher imo.....

Its just finished and this interview is actually from 2012 , as David reflects on the
next few years , but is as fresh today as then....

David Icke - The Archons

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=vsKdmBwtPxs

Published on 10 May 2015


David speaks on the Archons, (the demons/djinn/aliens etc.
Enjoy!

[observer]

In response to these comments, here and here.

Just for the record:

I am not disagreeing with any part of the theme of this thread, i.e. "Soul Catching Net". If one examines the history of my comments one will discover this has been my one-and-only theme since I joined Avalon.

There are, however, nuances of details which need to be addressed.

• Homo Sapiens Sapiens are the result of a genetic manipulation, most likely, of a preceding hominid.
• Homo Sapiens Sapiens are what is traditionally referred to as "Modern Humans".
• There is little doubt great civilizations populated this planet prior to the Modern Human habitation.
• These civilizations were not Homo Sapiens Sapiens.
• This is why I make reference to "The Dawn of Man" and "The Dawn of Civilization" in my comments.
• I am making reference to the introduction of Homo Sapiens Sapiens into the archeological record.

The Vedic text, and the legends of Atlantis, Lumuria, and other pre-existing civilizations are legends of other hominids that once occupied this planet, but (apparently) no longer do.

I would suggest, that since the genetic manipulation that caused Homo Sapiens Sapiens there has been a contiguous, continuous hyperdimensional manipulation of the social structure through the practice of ritual - especially blood ritual. This hyperdimensional manipulation is enhanced through a mutation of a specific blood-line of Homo Sapiens Sapiens which has made it possible for this elite blood-line to elevate itself above the Mass of Humanity and take control of the social order.


Additionally, and with no specific reference to any previous comment....

With regard to basing one's knowledge on implanted thoughts (channeling, prophecy, remote viewing, etc.), implanting thoughts has been the template through which these hyperdimensional entities have manipulated the social structure since the Dawn of Man.

Traditional indigenous civilizations required their shaman to endure a lifetime of apprenticeship before one could be considered a "Shaman".

There was a well established reason for this: In the astral world, things are not what they appear.

[loveoflife]

This reminds me of some of the opinions expressed on this thread, those that say the soul cannot be captured.

“There is an Eastern tale that speaks about a very rich magician who
had a great many sheep. But at the same time this magician was very
mean. He did not want to hire shepherds, nor did he want to erect a
fence about the pasture where the sheep were grazing. The sheep
consequently often wandered into the forest, fell into ravines and so
on, and above all, they ran away, for they knew that the magician
wanted their flesh and their skins, and this they did not like.
At last the magician found a remedy.
He hypnotized his sheep and suggested to them, first of all, that they
were immortal and that no harm was being done to them when they were
skinned; that on the contrary, it would be very good for them and even
pleasant; secondly he suggested that the magician was a good master who
loved his flock so much that he was ready to do anything in the world
for them; and in the third place, he suggested that if anything at all
were going to happen to them, it was not going to happen just then, at
any rate not that day, and therefore they had no need to think about
it. Further, the magician suggested to his sheep that they were not
sheep at all; to some of them he suggested that they were lions, to
some that they were eagles, to some that they were men, to others that
they were magicians. After this all his cares and worries about the
sheep came to an end. They never ran away again, but quietly awaited
the time when the magician would require their flesh and skins.”
~ G.I. Gurdjieff

[Cidersomerset]

What Happens When People Meditate for the First Time?

By ickonic on 1st July 2015 The Awakening





By WakingTimes June 30, 2015 1

What Happens When People Meditate for the First Time?



Christina Sarich, Contributor
Waking Times

enlightenment

‘There have been numerous studies detailing what happens to the brain in long-term
meditators, but what exactly happens to people who meditate for the first time?

Sara Lazar, a Harvard researcher, has gained quite some notoriety detailing how the
brain actually grows grey matter when people meditate. Other studies have shown
that meditation improves IQ, and lessens depression. In addition to these benefits,
meditation also:’

Most people think they have to meditate for years before they start seeing any of
these improvements, but a study conducted by Chiesa, Calati, and Serretti shows
that after just eight short weeks of meditation, people start to experience improved
cognitive functioning.

Still not fast enough for you?

Meditation for the First Time

Here’s what happens to the brain after someone completes just one meditation session
who has never meditated beforeeople start to become less ‘me’ centered as the brain
balances the Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which allows us to ruminate our
worry, and the Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), which allows us to empathize
with others and feel more connected to those who we usually view as dissimilar to ourselves.
The fear-center is calmed via the amygdala and the two branches of the nervous system.
You know that ‘uh-oh’ feeling you sometimes get? Meditation helps to make sure that you
only feel low-level stress when you really need to, such as when you are about to put your
hand on a hot stove, or you need to put the brakes on in traffic. Even then, meditation can
help take the stress out of stress-full experiences.

The very first time you try to meditate, the mind calms down. It doesn’t mean you will
experience profound inner peace the first time your bum touches a meditation cushion,
but it does mean that you are already setting up new neural pathways that allow positive
change. Each time you ‘sit’ again, you enhance them.
You’ll feel less depressed. Meditation is getting a lot of press lately because of this study
by Mahav Goyal published at JAMA. 47 trials conducted with over 3,500 patients proved
that meditation was as effective as anti-depressants. (The effect of meditation was moderate,
at 0.3. If this sounds low, keep in mind that the effect size for antidepressants is also 0.3.)
The difference is, of course, that meditation can’t kill you or cause other unwanted side effects,
like psychotic episodes, panic attacks, hostility, etc.

Beginner Meditators

Though it takes a few more sessions, here is what happens when you meditate a little more
frequently:You’ll feel less physical pain in just four meditation sessions. Brain activity
decreases in the areas responsible for relaying sensory information surrounding a feeling of
pain. Also, regions of the brain that modulate pain get busier, and volunteers who participated
in a study reported that pain was less intense after meditation practice. These results were
all reported at an annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego.

The ‘me-center’ slowly evaporates. As the connection between bodily sensations and the vmPFC
withers, you will no longer assume that a bodily sensation or momentary feeling of fear means
something is wrong with you or that you are the problem. You can just let it rise and pass,
without hardly giving it a second thought.Empathy becomes stronger. The vmPFC part of the
‘me center’ subsides and the dmPFC grows more dominant, which means you can feel others’
pain or sadness, but with the same ability as you’ve learned to handle your own bodily sensations.

Masters of Meditation

Once you’re an old pro at meditation you can look forward to even more benefits, many of which
science is still reaching to understand.<Tibetan monks can sit for hours in meditation as easily as
most of us can spend the same amount of time sleeping or surfing the net. These monks recently
dried wet sheets with their bodies by utilizing a form of meditation called g Tum-mo. Monks were
cloaked in wet, cold sheets (49 f / 9.4 c) and placed in a 40 f (4.5 c) room. In conditions such as
these the average person would likely experience uncontrollable shivering and suffer hypothermia.
However, through deep concentration, the monks were able to generate body heat, and within
minutes the researchers noticed steam rising from those sheets. In about an hour the sheets were
completely dry.

Yogis in India who practice meditation are able to slow their hearts so completely that they are hardly
detectableon EKG equipment. In 1935 a French cardiologist, Therese Brosse, took an electrocardiograph
to India and studied yogis who said they could stop their heart. According to Brosse’s published report,
readings produced by a single EKG lead and pulse recordings indicated that the heart potentials and pulse
of one of her subjects decreased almost to zero, where they stayed for several seconds. (Brosse, 1946)
A master meditator, Munishri Ajitchandrasagarji, is a Jain monk who credits his incredible memory to
meditation practice. He can recite 500 items from memory, whether it is a phrase from one of six different
languages, a math problem, or the name of a random object. He recently performed this feat in front of an
audience of 6,000 to verify his amazing level of skill. It took six hours for the crowd to feed him the list of
items, and he recited them back perfectly.

Dutchman Wim Hof is able to control his immune system with meditation. He has been in the Guinness
Book of World Records 20 times for accomplishments like climbing Mt. Everest and Kilimanjaro in nothing
but a pair of shorts and shoes, with no water or food, when temperatures easily reach 50 degrees celcius.

He uses a special breathing meditation.

So maybe the first time you learn to control your thoughts by focusing on your breath, or simply observing
your thoughts like clouds passing in the sky won’t make you a master meditator capable of these staggering
acts, but even with your first twenty minute ‘sit’ you are well on your way to other-worldly abilities.







Read more: What Happens When People Meditate for the First Time?

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/06/3...he-first-time/

[greybeard]

Non-duality=not two= One without a second.
One consciousness, one soul.
No one else to do anything to you---all else is illusion.
Only in illusion--the cosmic dream can you appear to be trapped.
What looks through "my" eyes looks through everyone's

From Tim's thread---not a philosophy--not an idea--but Truth.

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...l=1#post456904

Enlightenment - A direct, succinct account of what occurs...

This is an account of the direct experience of awakening.

What can be said, or written, of itself cannot reveal the truth.

Words and language are themselves an illusory tool, an aspect of the relative dream, and can only indicate or hint towards the totality, or reality, or that which is.

Upon the moment of awakening not only does the illusion of the relative self or ego vanish like a shadow exposed to light, but all “other” egos, or relative selves, disappear. All separation disappears, and the absolute Self is realized. All is then enlightened and whole, for there never really were separate entities that could become individually enlightened. There then is no relative doer, nor even an absolute doer, for all doing implies separation. Or something to do, or somewhere to go. And not just other humans, but the entire creation is enlightened and whole.

Now nothing can be judged, or observed, or transcended, as there is no separate observer, nor separate objects observed, nor even separate observing.

Here even the concept of pure awareness, the witness, unidentified with that which is observed, has dissolved into the totality. Herein lies the meaning of samsara is nirvana. The slightest separation into observer, observed and observing and samsara appears. When observer, observed and observing is an undifferentiated whole, the Self is self evident, and far more evident, than the illusory ego self.

All that is, then is, as it really is, here descriptions do not apply.

Now, what is missing from the above description of the direct experience of enlightenment?

It is the pronoun, I, for in truth there is no I, either relatively or absolutely. I implies a separation from totality, as the first person singular. Whereas the adjective Self, implies being the same throughout, as the self evident united reality/totality/all that is, and is more appropriate at hinting towards the truth.

You are in reality this Self, all else is illusion.
Relatively, this is the end of suffering. This is the beginning of endless bliss.
Absolutely, all suffering is unreal. Only the blissful Self is real.
This is the eternal Truth.

[heyokah]

I would not be a heyokah if I would not offer you this writing called:
What Buddhists Believe
by Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera

Is there an Eternal Soul?

Belief in an eternal soul is a misconception of the human consciousness.

The Soul Theory

With regard to the soul theory, there are three kinds of teachers in the world:

- The first teacher teaches the existence of an eternal ego-entity that outlasts death: He is the eternalist.

- The second teacher teaches a temporary ego-entity which becomes annihilated at death: He is the materialist.

- The third teacher teaches neither an eternal nor a temporary ego-entity: He is the Buddha.

The Buddha teaches that what we call ego, self, soul, personality, etc., are merely conventional terms that do not refer to any real, independent entity. According to Buddhism there is no reason to believe that there is an eternal soul that comes from heaven or that is created by itself and that will transmigrate or proceed straight away either to heaven or hell after death. Buddhists cannot accept that there is anything either in this world or any other world that is eternal or unchangeable. We only cling to ourselves and hope to find something immortal. We are like children who wish to clasp a rainbow. To children, a rainbow is something vivid and real; but the grown-ups know that it is merely an illusion caused by certain rays of light and drops of water. The light is only a series of waves or undulations that have no more reality than the rainbow itself.

Man has done well without discovering the soul. He shows no signs of fatigue or degeneration for not having encountered any soul. No man has produced anything to promote mankind by postulating a soul and its imaginary working. Searching for a soul in man is like searching for something in a dark empty room. But the poor man will never realize that what he is searching for is not in the room. It is very difficult to make such a person understand the futility of his search.

Those who believe in the existence of a soul are not in a position to explain what and where it is. The Buddha's advice is not to waste our time over this unnecessary speculation and devote our time to strive for our salvation. When we have attained perfection then we will be able to realize whether there is a soul or not. A wandering ascetic named Vacchagotta asked the Buddha whether there was an Atman (self) or not. The story is as follows:

Vacchagotta comes to the Buddha and asks:

'Venerable Gotama, is there an Atman?

The Buddha is silent.

'Then Venerable Gotama, is there no Atman?

Again the Buddha is silent.

Vacchagotta gets up and goes away.

After the ascetic has left, Ananda asks the Buddha why He did not answer Vacchagotta's question. The Buddha explains His position:

'Ananda, when asked by Vacchagotta, the Wanderer: 'Is there a Self?, if I had answered: 'There is a Self'. Then, Ananda, that would be siding with those recluses and brahmanas who hold the eternalist theory (sassata-vada).'

'And Ananda, when asked by the Wanderer: 'Is there no Self?, if I had answered: 'There is no Self', then that would be siding with those recluses and brahmanas who hold the annihilationist theory (uccedavada)'.

'Again, Ananda, when asked by Vacchagotta: 'Is there a Self? If I had answered: 'There is a Self', would that be in accordance with my knowledge that all dhammas are without Self?

'Surely not, Sir.'

'And again, Ananda, when asked by the Wanderer: 'Is there no Self?', if I had answered: 'There is no Self', then that would have created a greater confusion in the already confused Vacchagotta. For he would have thought: Formerly indeed I had an Atman (Self), but now I haven't got one.' (Samyutta Nikaya).

The Buddha regarded soul-speculation as useless and illusory. He once said, 'Only through ignorance and delusion do men indulge in the dream that their souls are separate and self-existing entities. Their heart still clings to Self. They are anxious about heaven and they seek the pleasure of Self in heaven.
Thus they cannot see the bliss of righteousness and the immortality of truth.' Selfish ideas appear in man's mind due to his conception of Self and craving for existence.

Anatta: The Teaching of No-Soul

The Buddha countered all soul-theory and soul-speculation with His Anatta doctrine. Anatta is translated under various labels: No-soul, No-self, egolessness, and soullessness.

To understand the Anatta doctrine, one must understand that the eternal soul theory _ 'I have a soul' _ and the material theory _ 'I have no soul' _are both obstacles to self-realization or salvation. They arise from the misconception 'I AM'.
Hence, to understand the Anatta doctrine, one must not cling to any opinion or views on soul-theory; rather, one must try to see things objectively as they are and without any mental projections. One must learn to see the so-called 'I' or Sour or Self for what it really is : merely a combination of changing forces. This requires some analytical explanation.

The Buddha taught that what we conceive as something eternal within us, is merely a combination of physical and mental aggregates or forces (pancakkhandha), made up of body or matter (rupakkhandha), sensation (vedanakkhandha), perception (sannakkhandha), mental formations (samkharakkhandha) and consciousness (vinnanakkhandha).
These forces are working together in a flux of momentary change; they are never the same for two consecutive moments. They are the component forces of the psycho-physical life.
When the Buddha analyzed the psycho-physical life, He found only these five aggregates or forces. He did not find any eternal soul. However, many people still have the misconception that the soul is the consciousness. The Buddha declared in unequivocal terms that consciousness depends on matter, sensation, perception and mental formations and that is cannot exist independently of them.

The Buddha said, 'The body, Oh monks, is not the Self. Sensation is not the Self. Perception is not the Self. The mental constructions are not the Self. And neither is consciousness the Self.
Perceiving this, Oh monks, the disciple sets no value on the body, or on sensation, or on perception, or on mental constructions, or on consciousness. Setting no value of them, he becomes free of passions and he is liberated. The knowledge of liberation arises there within him. And then he knows that he has done what has to be done, that he has lived the holy life, that he is no longer becoming this or that, that his rebirth is destroyed.' (Anatta-Lakkhana Sutta).

The Anatta doctrine of the Buddha is over 2500 years old. Today the thought current of the modern scientific world is flowing towards the Buddha's Teaching of Anatta or No-Soul. In the eyes of the modern scientists, man is merely a bundle of ever-changing sensations. Modern physicists say that the apparently solid universe is not, in reality, composed of solid substance at all, but actually a flux of energy. The modern physicist sees the whole universe as a process of transformation of various forces of which man is a mere part. The Buddha was the first to realize this.

A prominent author, W.S. Wily, once said, 'The existence of the immortal in man is becoming increasingly discredited under the influence of the dominant schools of modern thought.' The belief in the immortality of the soul is a dogma that is contradicted by the most solid, empirical truth.

The mere belief in an immortal soul, or the conviction that something in us survives death, does not make us immortal unless we know what it is that survives and that we are capable of identifying ourselves with it. Most human beings choose death instead of immortality by identifying themselves with that which is perishable and impermanent by clinging stubbornly to the body or the momentary elements of the present personality, which they mistake for the soul or the essential form of life.

About those researches of modern scientists who are now more inclined to assert that the so-called 'Soul' is no more than a bundle of sensations, emotions, sentiments, all relating to the physical experiences, Prof. James says that the term 'Soul' is a mere figure of speech to which no reality corresponds.

It is the same Anatta doctrine of the Buddha that was introduced in the Mahayana school of Buddhism as Sunyata or voidness. Although this concept was elaborated by a great Mahayana scholar, Nagarjuna, by giving various interpretations, there is no extraordinary concept in Sunyata far different from the Buddha's original doctrine of Anatta.

The belief in soul or Self and the Creator God, is so strongly rooted in the minds of many people that they cannot imagine why the Buddha did not accept these two issues which are indispensable to many religions. In fact some people got a shock or became nervous and tried to show their emotion when they heard that the Buddha rejected these two concepts. That is the main reason why to many unbiased scholars and psychologists Buddhism stands unique when compared to all the other religions. At the same time, some other scholars who appreciate the various other aspects of Buddhism thought that Buddhism would be enriched by deliberately re-interpreting the Buddha word 'Atta' in order to introduce the concept of Soul and Self into Buddhism. The Buddha was aware of this unsatisfactoriness of man and the conceptual upheaval regarding this belief.


All conditioned things are impermanent,
All conditioned things are Dukka -- Suffering,
All conditioned or unconditioned things
are soulless or selfless. (Dhammapada 277, 278, 279)

There is a parable in our Buddhist texts with regard to the belief in an eternal soul. A man, who mistook a moving rope for a snake, became terrified by that fear in his mind. Upon discovery that it was only a piece of rope, his fear subsided and his mind became peaceful.
The belief in an eternal soul is equated to the rope of that man's imagination.

http://<b>http://www.budsas.org/ebud...ev/115.htm</b>

ADD
Another article for you to read, called:

Do you have a soul?

by Christopher Calder

"To know truth you must have a deep desire to see it, and a willingness to let go of the old lies".

http://meditation-handbook.50webs.com/soul2.html

[Agape]

Posted by Innocent Warrior (here)

Posted by Agape (here)
'' and why do you think you are who you are '' .

Can you please link me to the thread about who you are? I considered requesting it through a PM but there might be other new members who would also like to read it.

Edit: I did go to your profile and check your started threads but there's a lot so I'm hoping you'll narrow it down for me. I'm also highly interested in the topic of human origins, I'll begin with your earliest threads first but if you could also point me in the right direction with that topic, that would be great.

It's down in the catacombs here but I can provide free torch and slippers ...

Right at the bottom of this Sea , ehm Forum , within the Witness board , the case is called The E.T. Origins of Mankind :

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/foru...ins-of-Mankind

Data discussed is based on my personal testimony from Bodhgaya , India on Jan 21/22 2002 , at night , lasted from midnight to 4 AM.

Got first reports ( articles ) on this published on ufocasebooks site in 2005/6 after I was back to Europe and had access to computer .

http://www.ufocasebook.com/2002spaceshipencounter.html

http://www.ufocasebook.com/etoriginofmankind.html

For more information you can also check the interview on Project Camelot with Kerry Cassidy

http://projectcamelotproductions.com.../bodhgaya.html

( people say audio is bad but there's transcript .., it needs to be said that we were all very stressed about those interviews .. and there were reasons )

The Bodhgaya Event Report ( research document by Barry M King , 2010 ) :

http://projectcamelotproductions.com...NALVERSION.pdf

and Bases 16 ( in 5 parts ) with Miles Johnston on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uw3cIplGy0



I'm otherwise , occasionally discussing things all over the board as you've probably noticed ..

chaos is natural state of mind and matter ..

Thanks for reminding me

[heyokah]

Posted by Cidersomerset (here)
Last weeks video cast is quite relevant to part of this thread , very interesting imo.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YeL_ki1aWCk

I wonder if Archons can be driven out of a body by an exorcist, the way they say to get rid of Demon or Jinn in Christianity and Islam.
This has to be a voluntary act of the possessed person I suppose.
I doubt however that a psychopath will acknowledge that he is being possessed once he has been taken-over completely by an evil energetic entity.

Any ideas about this?

[Flash]

wow, this text below is beautiful AND IT ROCKS MY BOAT.

If there is no soul or self, following Buddha's sayings, but just an interplay of énergies, what in that case are we wanting to free? What Was Buddha liberated from and mostly who was liberated? Is there any permanence anywhere (in time and space or in the void)?

And why do great sage say that they are part of the whole once liberated, yet retain the individuality in some fashion?

Posted by heyokah (here)
I would not be a heyokah if I would not offer you this writing called:
What Buddhists Believe
by Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera

Is there an Eternal Soul?

Belief in an eternal soul is a misconception of the human consciousness.

The Soul Theory

With regard to the soul theory, there are three kinds of teachers in the world:

- The first teacher teaches the existence of an eternal ego-entity that outlasts death: He is the eternalist.

- The second teacher teaches a temporary ego-entity which becomes annihilated at death: He is the materialist.

- The third teacher teaches neither an eternal nor a temporary ego-entity: He is the Buddha.

The Buddha teaches that what we call ego, self, soul, personality, etc., are merely conventional terms that do not refer to any real, independent entity. According to Buddhism there is no reason to believe that there is an eternal soul that comes from heaven or that is created by itself and that will transmigrate or proceed straight away either to heaven or hell after death. Buddhists cannot accept that there is anything either in this world or any other world that is eternal or unchangeable. We only cling to ourselves and hope to find something immortal. We are like children who wish to clasp a rainbow. To children, a rainbow is something vivid and real; but the grown-ups know that it is merely an illusion caused by certain rays of light and drops of water. The light is only a series of waves or undulations that have no more reality than the rainbow itself.

Man has done well without discovering the soul. He shows no signs of fatigue or degeneration for not having encountered any soul. No man has produced anything to promote mankind by postulating a soul and its imaginary working. Searching for a soul in man is like searching for something in a dark empty room. But the poor man will never realize that what he is searching for is not in the room. It is very difficult to make such a person understand the futility of his search.

Those who believe in the existence of a soul are not in a position to explain what and where it is. The Buddha's advice is not to waste our time over this unnecessary speculation and devote our time to strive for our salvation. When we have attained perfection then we will be able to realize whether there is a soul or not. A wandering ascetic named Vacchagotta asked the Buddha whether there was an Atman (self) or not. The story is as follows:

Vacchagotta comes to the Buddha and asks:

'Venerable Gotama, is there an Atman?

The Buddha is silent.

'Then Venerable Gotama, is there no Atman?

Again the Buddha is silent.

Vacchagotta gets up and goes away.

After the ascetic has left, Ananda asks the Buddha why He did not answer Vacchagotta's question. The Buddha explains His position:

'Ananda, when asked by Vacchagotta, the Wanderer: 'Is there a Self?, if I had answered: 'There is a Self'. Then, Ananda, that would be siding with those recluses and brahmanas who hold the eternalist theory (sassata-vada).'

'And Ananda, when asked by the Wanderer: 'Is there no Self?, if I had answered: 'There is no Self', then that would be siding with those recluses and brahmanas who hold the annihilationist theory (uccedavada)'.

'Again, Ananda, when asked by Vacchagotta: 'Is there a Self? If I had answered: 'There is a Self', would that be in accordance with my knowledge that all dhammas are without Self?

'Surely not, Sir.'

'And again, Ananda, when asked by the Wanderer: 'Is there no Self?', if I had answered: 'There is no Self', then that would have created a greater confusion in the already confused Vacchagotta. For he would have thought: Formerly indeed I had an Atman (Self), but now I haven't got one.' (Samyutta Nikaya).

The Buddha regarded soul-speculation as useless and illusory. He once said, 'Only through ignorance and delusion do men indulge in the dream that their souls are separate and self-existing entities. Their heart still clings to Self. They are anxious about heaven and they seek the pleasure of Self in heaven.
Thus they cannot see the bliss of righteousness and the immortality of truth.' Selfish ideas appear in man's mind due to his conception of Self and craving for existence.

Anatta: The Teaching of No-Soul

The Buddha countered all soul-theory and soul-speculation with His Anatta doctrine. Anatta is translated under various labels: No-soul, No-self, egolessness, and soullessness.

To understand the Anatta doctrine, one must understand that the eternal soul theory _ 'I have a soul' _ and the material theory _ 'I have no soul' _are both obstacles to self-realization or salvation. They arise from the misconception 'I AM'.
Hence, to understand the Anatta doctrine, one must not cling to any opinion or views on soul-theory; rather, one must try to see things objectively as they are and without any mental projections. One must learn to see the so-called 'I' or Sour or Self for what it really is : merely a combination of changing forces. This requires some analytical explanation.

The Buddha taught that what we conceive as something eternal within us, is merely a combination of physical and mental aggregates or forces (pancakkhandha), made up of body or matter (rupakkhandha), sensation (vedanakkhandha), perception (sannakkhandha), mental formations (samkharakkhandha) and consciousness (vinnanakkhandha).
These forces are working together in a flux of momentary change; they are never the same for two consecutive moments. They are the component forces of the psycho-physical life.
When the Buddha analyzed the psycho-physical life, He found only these five aggregates or forces. He did not find any eternal soul. However, many people still have the misconception that the soul is the consciousness. The Buddha declared in unequivocal terms that consciousness depends on matter, sensation, perception and mental formations and that is cannot exist independently of them.

The Buddha said, 'The body, Oh monks, is not the Self. Sensation is not the Self. Perception is not the Self. The mental constructions are not the Self. And neither is consciousness the Self.
Perceiving this, Oh monks, the disciple sets no value on the body, or on sensation, or on perception, or on mental constructions, or on consciousness. Setting no value of them, he becomes free of passions and he is liberated. The knowledge of liberation arises there within him. And then he knows that he has done what has to be done, that he has lived the holy life, that he is no longer becoming this or that, that his rebirth is destroyed.' (Anatta-Lakkhana Sutta).

The Anatta doctrine of the Buddha is over 2500 years old. Today the thought current of the modern scientific world is flowing towards the Buddha's Teaching of Anatta or No-Soul. In the eyes of the modern scientists, man is merely a bundle of ever-changing sensations. Modern physicists say that the apparently solid universe is not, in reality, composed of solid substance at all, but actually a flux of energy. The modern physicist sees the whole universe as a process of transformation of various forces of which man is a mere part. The Buddha was the first to realize this.

A prominent author, W.S. Wily, once said, 'The existence of the immortal in man is becoming increasingly discredited under the influence of the dominant schools of modern thought.' The belief in the immortality of the soul is a dogma that is contradicted by the most solid, empirical truth.

The mere belief in an immortal soul, or the conviction that something in us survives death, does not make us immortal unless we know what it is that survives and that we are capable of identifying ourselves with it. Most human beings choose death instead of immortality by identifying themselves with that which is perishable and impermanent by clinging stubbornly to the body or the momentary elements of the present personality, which they mistake for the soul or the essential form of life.

About those researches of modern scientists who are now more inclined to assert that the so-called 'Soul' is no more than a bundle of sensations, emotions, sentiments, all relating to the physical experiences, Prof. James says that the term 'Soul' is a mere figure of speech to which no reality corresponds.

It is the same Anatta doctrine of the Buddha that was introduced in the Mahayana school of Buddhism as Sunyata or voidness. Although this concept was elaborated by a great Mahayana scholar, Nagarjuna, by giving various interpretations, there is no extraordinary concept in Sunyata far different from the Buddha's original doctrine of Anatta.

The belief in soul or Self and the Creator God, is so strongly rooted in the minds of many people that they cannot imagine why the Buddha did not accept these two issues which are indispensable to many religions. In fact some people got a shock or became nervous and tried to show their emotion when they heard that the Buddha rejected these two concepts. That is the main reason why to many unbiased scholars and psychologists Buddhism stands unique when compared to all the other religions. At the same time, some other scholars who appreciate the various other aspects of Buddhism thought that Buddhism would be enriched by deliberately re-interpreting the Buddha word 'Atta' in order to introduce the concept of Soul and Self into Buddhism. The Buddha was aware of this unsatisfactoriness of man and the conceptual upheaval regarding this belief.


All conditioned things are impermanent,
All conditioned things are Dukka -- Suffering,
All conditioned or unconditioned things
are soulless or selfless. (Dhammapada 277, 278, 279)

There is a parable in our Buddhist texts with regard to the belief in an eternal soul. A man, who mistook a moving rope for a snake, became terrified by that fear in his mind. Upon discovery that it was only a piece of rope, his fear subsided and his mind became peaceful.
The belief in an eternal soul is equated to the rope of that man's imagination.

http://<b>http://www.budsas.org/ebud...ev/115.htm</b>

ADD
Another article for you to read, called:

Do you have a soul?

by Christopher Calder

"To know truth you must have a deep desire to see it, and a willingness to let go of the old lies".

http://meditation-handbook.50webs.com/soul2.html

[heyokah]

For those interested in the article I presented in comment #90


Do you have a soul?

by Christopher Calder

To know truth you must have a deep desire to see it, and a willingness to let go of the old lies.



A summary of the main issues

1) There is no positive proof for the existence of souls, immortal karma, reincarnation, or any spiritual afterlife. It is interesting to note that in their last years even Rajneesh/Osho and J. Krishnamurti reversed themselves and stated that there was no reincarnation and thus, presumably, no soul. If there is no reincarnation and no heaven or hell, then the question of soul is moot.

2) There are legitimate science based alternate explanations for phenomena attributed to souls and immortal karma. The enlightened teachers seem to confuse the effects of DNA for the effects of soul. For example, people with higher intelligence and a more finely articulated DNA code are perceived by them as being older and higher souls.

3) There are obvious profit and political power motives for those who promote belief in the supernatural. How many gurus have made fortunes off the idea of souls and reincarnation? How many monasteries, ashrams, churches, mosques, and synagogues would go out of business if people found out there is no soul or immortal karma? How can governments and the religious hierarchies control the masses if word leaks out that we all end up in the same state of eternal unconsciousness after we die, no matter how we behave while we are alive? Would there be a Vatican City or Tibetan Portola Palace without a belief in souls and/or immortal karma? The idea of soul has historically been as much a matter of politics as it has been an issue of personal religious belief.

4) It is highly probable that human animals have a built-in genetic predisposition to avoid the inevitable fact of our future death in order to reduce fear and stress. Our brains create myths of God, soul, immortal karma, reincarnation, and afterlife as a buffer against the hurtful knowledge of the inevitable demise of ourselves and everyone we love. By inventing myths of afterlife and/or reincarnation, the brain can exist comfortably without the highly charged survival instinct electrically connecting to the newfound knowledge of the inevitability of our own death. The supernatural myths thus act as resistive electrical insulation, blocking a dangerous short circuit between two parts of the brain.

5) The wild and colorful supernatural myths of Hinduism and Buddhism were created by the human brain mixing up the very real phenomenon of cosmic consciousness with the romantic, fiction producing part of the brain that makes us fall in love. Humans have an inbuilt biological need for love so we can sexually reproduce the species. This urge for romance becomes embedded in our DNA code through the evolutionary process, just as our need for strong bones and sharp teeth. Love is a survival requirement for the human species, and it is the very same internal brain wiring and euphoric brain chemistry which also creates fantastic myths of reincarnated religious superheroes. The flawless Godly guru becomes our non-sexual fantasy spiritual lover. Many Asian and Western gurus have taken advantage of this brain phenomenon and used their own females disciples as a personal harem. Sexual scandals follow gurus almost as regularly as summer follows spring.

6) The soul-karma-reincarnation theory has no reasonable explanation as to how disincarnate souls enter a mother's womb and merge with a newly formed fetus. The traditional Asian myths state that low souls get less auspicious bodies and higher souls get better looking, healthier bodies with more intelligent brains. Few true believers of reincarnation have ever asked themselves how low souls are rejected from better quality fetuses, and how high souls avoid the trap of getting attached to poor quality fetuses. The theory implies that souls have consciousness that lets them figure out which wombs to enter and which to avoid, and fetuses and/or wombs have built-in restrictions as to what type of soul may apply to enter. Certainly, even low souls would like to enter better quality fetuses, because everyone wants to be good looking, healthy, and wise. There are a thousand and one Hindu and Buddhist explanations for this process, which sounds a lot like house shopping and applying for a home mortgage. None of the traditional theories meet even marginal standards of believability in explaining such an impossibly complex theoretical process.

7) Life on earth was created through the nonhuman laws of chemistry, physics, and probability. Strands of chemicals (DNA) were created by sheer accident and replicated themselves faster than they could be destroyed. By further accident, some DNA strands became encased in protective shells which increased their survivability dramatically, creating the first bacteria. From simple bacteria more complexity was added until a myriad of multi celled creatures were produced. Through this slow process of evolution over billions of years, there was never any need for soul except as a myth to help human animals deal with their growing consciousness of the inevitable time-death equation. Scientists have produced the genetic heart of active bacteria from their base chemical components, and they did so without concocting any "soul."

The logistical mathematics of the soul theory do not add up. Does every new bacteria, seed, egg, spider, minnow, or cockroach that appears in the world demand a soul to go along with its already sufficient DNA code? We know that humans evolved from bacteria. When did soul come into the picture and why? Is there a printing press somewhere stamping out trillions of new souls every second to keep up with the demand? The soul theory lacks logical credibility, and science has shown that the universe is extremely logical in its structure, formation, and evolution.

8) The famous film director, Alfred Hitchcock, often added a theatrical ploy to his movies called a "MacGuffin." The MacGuffin distracted the audience long enough so that suspense could be created and the plot could develop without giving away the true course of the story. In the end, the MacGuffin has no meaning in itself. Likewise, Hindus and Buddhists have invented complicated myths of reincarnation and/or immortal karma, declaring that we are all trapped in a cycle of birth and death and only our eventual enlightenment can set us free. The Eastern traditions have created highly sophisticated myth structures, but the underlying function of their myths are identical to the more childlike myths of Christianity, with its almighty God, angels, and heaven. The belief in karma and reincarnation is the MacGuffin that keeps our minds diverted from the inevitability and finality of our own death.

No one can honestly say that it is impossible that human beings have souls or immortal karma. You cannot prove an absolute negative against such a big and complex issue. One can only say that given the proven facts of life and nature, the possibility of soul is unlikely. On one side of the scale you have an almost infinite preponderance of evidence that the supernatural does not exist, and on the other side of the scale you have rumors, myths, and wishful thinking.


"We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole: the wise silence, the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE. And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object, are one. We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


http://meditation-handbook.50webs.com/soul2.html

[Agape]

When I think of our home world , I see giant white blue light , it has cooling energy ...sometimes , we would think about it as living in the Sun even if that's not true ,

we lived on outskirts of that giant Sun , probably . We lived in one of those plasma bubbles that finally crystallised to a planet ,
it was very even and smooth all around with natural geometric patterns and crystaline mountains and azure lakes , a piece of heaven really ..

we had many beautiful plants and thick forests yet very few if any dangers to encounter .

Skies were clear but never completely dark as here , they changed colors from deepest blue to red emergence of the day ..
with rainbows frequently crossing sprays of subtle rain .

[observer]

I joined this thread to express a concept that I hold - in my heart - to be a foundational Truth, which I perceive, has been hidden from the Mass Consciousness since the Dawn of Man - the suggestion that the Color Gold has significance in understanding the key to the release of the soul from the prison of this matrix reality.

See my earliest comment in this thread, here.

The real theme of this thread has drifted far from the topic of the OP. It is a good thing that everyone have the opportunity to suggest their own belief systems, but it seems to me, all of the distractions to the theme can be summed-up by listening to this Mark Pissio Lecture.

I would much rather sit-back in a comfortable chair and watch a video on the big screen, than sit and read endless pages of text until my eyes get blurry, never really getting to the point. Mark Pissio has a particular way of staying focused on the theme, and getting to the point. The point of Marks "Natural Law Seminar" has really nothing to do with the theme of this thread, but he does sum-up all of the off topic comments, and align them into a common understandable concept.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=C1pkJaNbzLU

This video seminar aggregates years worth of wandering along meaningless trails, in search of knowledge. It is well worth the time.

[loveoflife]

Is it the way on this forum that any topic that is any way metaphysical is derailed into a discussion on enlightenment philosophy? These advocates have their own thread and provide links to it on here yet this does not seem to be enough they obviously need to disrupt other threads, making a discussion on topic pointless. I find this attitude of enlightenment being a cure all religious and proselytising a salvation belief system like a zealot and promoting gurus/masters similarly so.

There is also much confusion over the words soul and spirit (which is a matter of semantics), different belief systems use these words interchangeably. Yet i think the theme of the opening topic is clear whatever you call your core identity or being, are we being recycled back here life after life and if so what are we to do about it?

[giovonni]

will share this here ...

Posted by giovonni (here)
Caravan To Midnight - Episode 302 Peter Schiff & Simon Parkes

From John B. Wells

"Join us today for a quick money check up with Peter Schiff, followed by a phenomenal
discussion of the relationship between E.T.’s and the intelligence services with Simon Parkes" ...

Note first 14 minutes pertains to news and views from John ...

Next - Peter Schiff segment begins at the 14 minute mark

Then - the Simon Parkes segment begins approx at the 43:33 mark
which is a full two hour interview

Published on Jul 3, 2015

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=osXTECrcNzk

[loveoflife]

Here is some predictive programming from 1981.

This could be just the tip of the iceberg if the matrix goes way beyond this planet on a cosmic scale.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=U4zvHsKjUa8

[heyokah]

Posted by loveoflife (here)
Here is some predictive programming from 1981.

This could be just the tip of the iceberg if the matrix goes way beyond this planet on a cosmic scale.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=U4zvHsKjUa8

Thanks for bringing this movie up.

"My Dinner with André" - Louis Malle (1981)
Yes, that was a long time ago.

"OK. Yes, we are bored. We're all bored now. But has it ever occurred to you Wally that the process that creates this boredom that we see in the world now may very well be a self-perpetuating, unconscious form of brainwashing, created by a world totalitarian government based on money, and that all of this is much more dangerous than one thinks? and it's not just a question of individual survival Wally, but that somebody who's bored is asleep, and somebody who's asleep will not say no?"

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=JVCbIzeQb30