Has an evolution of consciousness occurred?

[swilow]

"I think therefore I am..."

-But what about all the moments that preceded that thought- did you exist then?

If we want things to improve we have to do more than just try to raise ourselves, we have to start infecting others with the spirituality virus... and maybe innoculate them against Religion

I like the idea behind your statement and separating spirituality from religion. But we're not talking about a true 'evolution' of consciousness if some may miss out because they happen to have contrary or apathetic spiritual views.

 

[methamaniac]

"I think therefore I am..."

-But what about all the moments that preceded that thought- did you exist then?

To doubt is to be,
Doubting one exists is one good one way to tell you "exist"

As for what preceeds my thought,
To have ability to think is what is before thought
So did "I" exist before thought?
Not the "I" you are speaking with
But you're probably also meaning what preceeded
"first thought" ie who made God

But who says something has to proceed thought/ability to think.
The illusion of linear time strikes again.
Something has to break the egg and chicken cycle.
Or we wouldnt even be here (assuming you believe we are here). Something has to be infinite and outside of time
No getting around it.
And I will go out on a limb and say this "something"
is thought/ability to think.

 

[Smoky]

Yes, the truth shouldn't be strained through any concept, teacher or organization… found in something other than THiS
I think therefore I am, I exist ... truth. Unless I think to much and separate myself from life. " I think therefore I'm not " "

 

[methamaniac]

If you're still able to think, you still are.

I always found it ironic that Pontius Pilate was standing in front of Jesus and asked,
"What is truth"?
He was standing in front of the embodiment of truth but didnt recognize it.
Sometimes the truth is so glaringly obvious,
but we choose to stay in the lie because it is more comfortable. Sometimes it's not so obvious at the moment, but in retrospect it is clear as day. (pain seems to clear the lens)
And sometimes we know the truth without having to bat an eye or experience a thing.
Wisdom can come in a variety of ways,
but it comes from one vine.
Once you embrace truth, it becomes easier to spot.
To be frankly honest, if one is truly honest
with self, truth is probably the easiest thing to know. But it can be very hard to prove to another.

 

[Erikmen]

Not bad methamaniac, not bad!

 

[Journyman16]

"I think therefore I am..."

-But what about all the moments that preceded that thought- did you exist then?

I like the idea behind your statement and separating spirituality from religion. But we're not talking about a true 'evolution' of consciousness if some may miss out because they happen to have contrary or apathetic spiritual views.

In some forms of meditation and some of martial arts, the idea is to try to BE by being aware of the moments between thoughts and letting them grow longer.

I think we 'ARE' before thought, during thought and after thought, and though is something we DO. The problem seems to arise that, while Doing, we cease to be aware of Being. Again it is a goal of martial arts to be able to Do while not ceasing to Be.

I'm not sure about the Evolution side of consciousness - it seems to me if we apply 'evolution' to it we are talking about a process in which a new form takes over from an old form. That would imply that those who don't take the next step will simply die out. This concept is the justification in the X-men movies for the war between Normals and the Mutants - that, even though the Mutants are the children of Normals, they will replace the Normals.

But if we can perhaps see the raising of consciousness as more of a change to current form instead of a step beyond it, perhaps we can infect enough of those who are around us to begin a large scale change that can convert the world. A couple of decades back there were some thoguhts that if we could change just 10% of a given group, the whole group would be swept along - and the 100th monkey effect would seem to agree with the idea.

 

[Smoky]

If you're still able to think, you still are.

I always found it ironic that Pontius Pilate was standing in front of Jesus and asked,
"What is truth"?
He was standing in front of the embodiment of truth but didnt recognize it.
Sometimes the truth is so glaringly obvious,
but we choose to stay in the lie because it is more comfortable. Sometimes it's not so obvious at the moment, but in retrospect it is clear as day. (pain seems to clear the lens)
And sometimes we know the truth without having to bat an eye or experience a thing.
Wisdom can come in a variety of ways,
but it comes from one vine.
Once you embrace truth, it becomes easier to spot.
To be frankly honest, if one is truly honest
with self, truth is probably the easiest thing to know. But it can be very hard to prove to another.

Spot on! Indeed - one finds truth for themselves… an inside awareness. You can explain it to someone but not understand it for them.

 

[methamaniac]

^
Agreed.

Real Truth is out there and it is absolute and concrete-it will never change. It exists outside of us. We dont create truth more we find/discover it. It already exits.
I should be more clear and say absolute truth.
Semantics and relativity in respect to perspective can confuse. It leads a lot of new agers (ironically old ideas) to some far out conclusions. Like we cant know anything is true absolutely, so we can all be "right" about everything. (relativism) MY "Feeling" alone is best way to deterime truth -- This card house is built on a foundation of fallacy and doomed to fall.
We can create our own relative "truth". We can both disagree on something and be right.
Me, tomatoes taste good- true
You, tomatoes taste bad- true
Or
Tomatoes are green-true
Tomatoes are red-true
Relative to when you view a tomato
With above examples you cant make an absolute statemant of truth on taste or color.
ie tomatoes always taste good or tomatoes always taste bad
You dont even need another obsever to prove this.
ie when I was young I thought tomatoes tasted bad
now that I am older tomatoes taste good--
proved it to myself.
A "law" would be another way to say "absolute truth".
Something that is true regardless of time or prespective. ( universality)
One plus two doesn't equal 4 would be example of absolute truth. No matter when or how you view the addition of one plus two it never equals 4.

Questioning is natural and it's how you determine truth is absolute. But that doesnt mean all roads lead to way "home". This is a delusion. No different than being lost in a maze and insting all paths lead out. Believing a lie doesnt make it true.
Remember this,
A lie can be falisified by absolute truth
but absolute truth can not be falsified by a lie.
This is absolutely true.