I haven't read the book, but judging from reviews of it Walsch seems to utilize logic strongly in order to reach his conclusions - such as drawing out the implications of God being "everything". He might not be fully conscious of this, though.Xen wrote:My path to enlightenment happened through the Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsch, almost solely.
Intuition is a tool and as such needs to be used properly. The same thing with experience, I find. Everybody experiences, just by being awake as opposed to being asleep, and I mean that literally not in any philosophical way. Two people can experience the exact same thing, and process it in entirely different ways. What the rational mind makes of experiences - and we can say all perceptions are experiences, is really the only thing that matters. Does one pay attention in the moment? Does one devote sufficient time to analyzing experiences when called for? Is one the kind of person who in fact feels that analysis is ever called for? Many if not most people appear to get by with minimal reflection. I find myself incapable of criticizing such people---perhaps they are blessed in ways I am not. If I am reading you correctly, David, you are saying if one's intuition is to be of any use, it must hold up to analytical rigor. I may intuit a truth or a position or idea; in my mind, it may seem to come out of nowhere. But that is where people get deceived, I think. Such an idea is always caused, and it is the process of reflection which unearths its cause or causes, which brings this idea to a point at which one can call it true or not true, and leaving the door open for further development, further scrutiny. I am with you David if you are insisting that ultimately one's rational faculties must be brought to bear.DQ wrote:Intuition and experience usually end up deceiving people, not enlightening them.
Yes, the Gold! And the days of all the many failed, celibate gurus, messiahs, FOTIs, etc. are soon over. Done!Dennis Mahar wrote:If Adam and Eve are divinely and humanly yoked up...What you seem to be suggesting is that that delivers a jackpot.
Yes, but it (the 'fall') was simply a necessary event in the making and the perfecting of man. Though the resultant human desensitization that took place in the process is of a grave, tragic, and very largely irreparable nature. Hence the need for a grand-cleansing of a great portion of the human species from the planet. Which is also soon ahead.Dennis Mahar wrote:The yoking of Adam and Eve in such a way has to take place in order to have the 'for the ultimate sake of which'.
Are you saying that the dethroning of Adam as head of the household has directly caused the miserable desensitisation of people and woeful state of Society?
Yes, the world continues to await the new, perfected, and sin-free Adam. Who will be co-joined with his perfected and sin-free Eve. This team also being known in some circles as the 'Spirit and the bride'.Dennis Mahar wrote:That raising Adam to his rightful perch is the winning formula that sets things right?
Yes. Basically it all hinges on desire. If a person truly wants to understand the nature of reality, such that it becomes an all-consuming desire, then he will naturally utilize every resource at his disposal. He will maximize his reasoning powers and push his intuitive abilities as far as they can go. The last thing he would do is try to curb either one of these. That would be unthinkable.cousinbasil wrote:Intuition is a tool and as such needs to be used properly. The same thing with experience, I find. Everybody experiences, just by being awake as opposed to being asleep, and I mean that literally not in any philosophical way. Two people can experience the exact same thing, and process it in entirely different ways. What the rational mind makes of experiences - and we can say all perceptions are experiences, is really the only thing that matters. Does one pay attention in the moment? Does one devote sufficient time to analyzing experiences when called for? Is one the kind of person who in fact feels that analysis is ever called for? Many if not most people appear to get by with minimal reflection. I find myself incapable of criticizing such people---perhaps they are blessed in ways I am not. If I am reading you correctly, David, you are saying if one's intuition is to be of any use, it must hold up to analytical rigor. I may intuit a truth or a position or idea; in my mind, it may seem to come out of nowhere. But that is where people get deceived, I think. Such an idea is always caused, and it is the process of reflection which unearths its cause or causes, which brings this idea to a point at which one can call it true or not true, and leaving the door open for further development, further scrutiny. I am with you David if you are insisting that ultimately one's rational faculties must be brought to bear.DQ wrote:Intuition and experience usually end up deceiving people, not enlightening them.
This makes sense to me. But if he can maximize his reasoning powers, he can minimize them as well. He also has the options of where to focus them. All these things sound like will, though, don't they? It sounds as if one has a choice or choices. How does that square with the often-stated position at GF that such choice is illusory, that one is caused to act as one does? When I try to picture the MOTI philosophy in its entirety, this is always where I see its navel, as it were. This to me is the crux of everything.DQ wrote:Yes. Basically it all hinges on desire. If a person truly wants to understand the nature of reality, such that it becomes an all-consuming desire, then he will naturally utilize every resource at his disposal. He will maximize his reasoning powers and push his intuitive abilities as far as they can go. The last thing he would do is try to curb either one of these.