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Internet Sacred Text Archive

sacred-texts.com

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Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#61

Post by slim »

edgyquant wrote: post #22
stonlyb wrote: post #4

I've been curious lately about the existence of any religion, mythology, folklore, etc that capture something closer to the current edges of modern physics and astrology. Basic assumption is that most/all are based on dated observations of seasons, planets, stars, etc -- things that were once mysteries in the mechanical universe. Are there any that touch on quantum weirdness or more recent astrophysics (black holes,…

>Basic assumption is that most/all are based on dated observations of seasons, planets, stars, etc -- things that were once mysteries in the mechanical universe. I think this is pretty much propaganda from anti-religious people. I have read all of the major religious texts over the last two years and If you look at most religions and their scriptures they deal very little with the physical world in general and are mo…

   I don’t believe anyone ever took them serious
I was surprised when I asked a religious person. They don't talk about it much, but they believe all of it in a literal way. Like they believe humanoid translucid creatures called Angels live with us. We think it is a metaphor when they say the word, but it is not for them.

Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#62

Post by Loughla »

xrd wrote: post #54
Loughla wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the metaphor of your eyes popping out when buried to your shins?

Technically, after reading it again, I see it was his loins. I'm not sure, is this a riddle?

No, my assumption is it's a metaphor.

Loins makes much more sense as the metaphor, as that's an area of the body that can get you in real trouble if you don't think first.

Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#63

Post by bee_rider »

stonlyb wrote: post #4

I've been curious lately about the existence of any religion, mythology, folklore, etc that capture something closer to the current edges of modern physics and astrology. Basic assumption is that most/all are based on dated observations of seasons, planets, stars, etc -- things that were once mysteries in the mechanical universe. Are there any that touch on quantum weirdness or more recent astrophysics (black holes,…

Let’s just make our own. I’ve always thought we should come up with a new religion around quantum immortality.

Some basic thoughts could be:

Since you are the only immortal one from your point of view, all of your loved ones will die before you, so don’t worry too much about meddling in their affairs or changing them, just love them unconditionally. Your time with them is brief, so you may as well enjoy it.

Make good memories together, you will carry them along eternally (meanwhile, from others’ point of view, you will die at some point, but they will go on forever, so give them some good memories of you).

Work toward the world and society you want to live in forever.

Hold yourself to unusually high standards, because you will have to deal with the consequences of your actions for an unusually long time. Also someday you will probably be noticed as one of the earliest immortals, so try to live a life that stands up to some scrutiny.

To avoid the stress of being incompatible with modern values, you’ll have to keep updating your moral framework. Big jumps in your moral framework will be unpleasant to deal with mentally, so keep up with where society is going. You don’t have the benefit of dying and becoming a product of your time at some point.

Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#64

Post by smeej »

> The Gospel of Thomas Reputedly the writings of the apostle ‘Doubting Thomas’. This text purports to be a collection of the sayings of Jesus. Traditionally Thomas was Jesus’ twin brother. This text shows strong Gnostic influence.

I'll admit I'm not deeply familiar with most religious traditions, but I am absolutely sure none of the major ones have any "tradition" in which Jesus had a twin brother. Yes, "Thomas" means "the twin," but not because people believed he was actually Jesus' twin brother.

It's hard for me to take any of the summaries seriously after that, and it's almost enough to make me wonder whether the collection would actually include accurate copies of the documents it claims to.

Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#65

Post by eruleman »

smeej wrote: post #64

> The Gospel of Thomas Reputedly the writings of the apostle ‘Doubting Thomas’. This text purports to be a collection of the sayings of Jesus. Traditionally Thomas was Jesus’ twin brother. This text shows strong Gnostic influence. I'll admit I'm not deeply familiar with most religious traditions, but I am absolutely sure none of the major ones have any "tradition" in which Jesus had a twin brother. Yes, "Thomas" mean…

You’re not familiar with this text or gnosticism.

GPT-4: “In Gnostic texts, particularly those found in the Nag Hammadi library, Thomas is often referred to as "Didymos Judas Thomas." The name "Didymos" is Greek for "twin," and "Thomas" is Aramaic for "twin." In the Gospel of Thomas, one of the Gnostic gospels, Thomas is depicted as having a special understanding or connection to Jesus, but the text does not explicitly state that Thomas is Jesus's twin in a biological sense.

Instead, the "twin" designation may be symbolic, representing a spiritual kinship or a metaphorical relationship rather than a literal familial one. Gnostic texts are known for their symbolic and allegorical language, and the exact nature of Thomas's relationship to Jesus is subject to interpretation. It's also worth noting that Gnostic beliefs were diverse, and different texts might portray the relationship differently.“

Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#66

Post by nonrandomstring »

bee_rider wrote: post #63
stonlyb wrote: post #4

I've been curious lately about the existence of any religion, mythology, folklore, etc that capture something closer to the current edges of modern physics and astrology. Basic assumption is that most/all are based on dated observations of seasons, planets, stars, etc -- things that were once mysteries in the mechanical universe. Are there any that touch on quantum weirdness or more recent astrophysics (black holes,…

Let’s just make our own. I’ve always thought we should come up with a new religion around quantum immortality. Some basic thoughts could be: Since you are the only immortal one from your point of view, all of your loved ones will die before you, so don’t worry too much about meddling in their affairs or changing them, just love them unconditionally. Your time with them is brief, so you may as well enjoy it. Make good…

You would probably enjoy Nietzsche's "Eternal recurrence"

Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#68

Post by huytersd »

_a_a_a_ wrote: post #55
huytersd wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be great if someone could make a torrent of all of these in one go.

Or you could buy it, that's what the site's for IIRC.

I guess but it’s $127 for information I can read in its entirety for free already. I’m sure if they had a more nominal price around $10-20 they would get a lot more purchases. After all it’s really an aggregation of existing texts.

Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#69

Post by nprateem »

amanaplanacanal wrote: post #39
nprateem wrote: post #20

Kind of related to what I was mentioning on the Godel thread, but IMO the Kundalini (or whatever you call it) experience is the "grand unifying theory" of religion and mythology (although it's not actually a theory, but an experience). It provides an explanation for where religions may have come from, beyond our typically pompous attitude that earlier generations of people were superstitious and stupid. Instead, it s…

Is that the same thing as “The mystical experience” as we know it in western writings, or “kensho” as the zen folks call it?

To be honest, I haven't read into western writing too much, but kundalini certainly leads to mystical experiences. It's closer to the Holy Spirit in Christianity, an animating principle (where the Father is pure awareness).

Kensho sounds more like insight gained into reality. While kundalini isn't required to have such insights, some authors say that attainment of it makes it easier to have them.

Generally, in Buddhism, they don't explicity talk about kundalini, except Tibetan Buddhism, where they have the rainbow body and vajrayana. Several authors do mention it, e.g. Culadasa in The Mind Illuminated and Shinzen Young amongst others. It's also clear from the Buddha's descriptions that he'd awoken his kundalini (at least that's my belief).

Re: Internet Sacred Text Archive

#70

Post by bee_rider »

nonrandomstring wrote: post #66
bee_rider wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s just make our own. I’ve always thought we should come up with a new religion around quantum immortality. Some basic thoughts could be: Since you are the only immortal one from your point of view, all of your loved ones will die before you, so don’t worry too much about meddling in their affairs or changing them, just love them unconditionally. Your time with them is brief, so you may as well enjoy it. Make good…

You would probably enjoy Nietzsche's "Eternal recurrence"

Hmm, even just reading the Wikipedia article has brought up some annoying philosophical/physics questions. I think we should instead aim to hit a critical mass of supporters with feel-good pablum and hopefully one of them will be good at arguing with philosophers, as that is beyond me. :)

Jokes aside, interesting article thanks.

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