GENIUS FORUMS

Kunga wrote: Back to the OP of this thread.....can you prove scientifically if you are Enlightened or that Enlightenment even exists ?

[Or can science prove scientifically that someone is Enlightened ? ]

Orenholt wrote:how can a delusional person know if someone else is NOT delusional?

Orenholt wrote:how can a person know for sure that he or she is enlightened?

Orenholt wrote:I think it's kind of like being in love. There may be changes in the brain chemistry that are empirically observable but the easiest way to tell is to experience it yourself.

Kunga wrote:

Dan Rowden wrote:Alexander's interpretations/inferences etc regarding his experiences are essentially unscientific. Therefore, they don't mean anything. What he should say is no more than "I experienced this shit and I have no idea what it means". Instead he wrote a book and sold it to silly people.

Unscientific....comming from a Harvard Grad/Neuroscientist. He wrote the book to make a laughing stock of himself probebly eh ?

Back to the OP of this thread.....can you prove scientifically if you are Enlightened or that Enlightenment even exists ?

[Or can science prove scientifically that someone is Enlightened ? ]

Kunga wrote:

Orenholt wrote:how can a delusional person know if someone else is NOT delusional?

Then they wouldn't be delusional would they ?

Orenholt wrote:how can a person know for sure that he or she is enlightened?

How can a person know for sure they aren't ? It would take some wisdom to know either way . Actually, I think when someone is Enlightened, [like Buddha], they are egoless,also attain certain abilities : [psychic,clarvoyant,walk on water,raise the dead,change water to wine,stuff like that]

Orenholt wrote:I think it's kind of like being in love. There may be changes in the brain chemistry that are empirically observable but the easiest way to tell is to experience it yourself.

Just because you're experiencing something, it dosn't nessessarily mean it's real. People think they are in "love", but it's actually only egoistical selfish emotions.....which can change the next moment. People hallucinate and think it's real....deluded people can think of themselves as Enlightened.....

Dan Rowden wrote:Well, that's all perfectly reasonable till they get to the part about leaving the physical body and living in spirit. Unless that's meant to be metaphorical, it's silly.

Dan Rowden wrote:Alexander is a neurosurgeon, not a neuroscientist.

Getoriks wrote:One thing I love about (genuine) philosophy and spirituality is that they make completely obsolete the issue of whether there is an afterlife!

Orenholt wrote:For me personally I must admit that I have selfish reasons, as all reasons are. I've always been interested in the ultimate nature of reality as some kind of curiosity. But they say that curiosity killed the cat. I've always hated this notion because it's basically telling children "don't ask so many questions" mainly because the adults don't know the answer. The lesser heard second half of this proverb is that "satisfaction brought him back". Applying this to the ego and enlightenment one could say that enlightenment is the death and that the ego is what revived him.

To expand upon my personal reasons I once wanted to be a dictator of some kind or at least someone with a lot of power and influence and preferably with a lot of money to enable my good deeds. Maybe a religious leader of some kind or a famous talk show celebrity. I wanted to be any of those things because I always felt that I wasn't being heard and that I had good messages to spread about being righteous, just and noble. I thought that I needed to know everything possibly relevant not only to attain such a position but to make sure that I would make good decisions when I did.

However I've long since given up those dreams and lost my meaning in life. My interests in philosophy still persist though but I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's in order to attain and make good decisions in my life in general. But the way that many people especially on this forum present wisdom it's totally useless in the practical world and soul devouring to boot.

So I must ask, why do YOU search for enlightenment?
Is it simply because you want to be emotionless?
Is it simply because you want to be "intellectually superior" to people? (I think that describes at least one person here who will remain unnamed)
Is it simply because you want to gain fame like Jesus, Buddha and Socrates?

What's the reason behind your search?