Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
A Philosophical Argument for Determining the Subject of Your Thoughts
Why Reality isn't Real and How to Change That
I have found myself in the midst of a dream, and so engrossed in the certainty thereof, that
even the seed of the concept of the existence of another world as real or more real finds no soil
within me to take root. And then to awaken and find, whether such awakening is
accompanied by disappointment or relief, that it was all just a dream!
Most all of us have had the carpet of reality pulled out from beneath our feet in this manner,
when the certainty of the reality of that dream that we had just occupied is replaced by a new
certainty - that the world to which we have just awakened is the real. In fleeing from the
disorientation that accompanies this transition, we deliberately convince ourselves that the
reality of that dream that our awareness had just been so absorbed in was not reality after all.
We tell ourselves that the reality that we have just left behind was but a dream, and therefore
a fantasy, and so somehow unreal - while we may have taken our experience within the dream
as real, we were mistaken. Having arrived at this determination and feeling thereby placated,
we then straighten our collars, clear our throats, and step forward fully persuaded that we are
now facing the real.
But this transition between realities ought instead to give us pause to contemplate: what is
real? We can consider a thing real, but can we consider "real" a thing? Reality is, first and
foremost, a concept, an idea. As such, the concept of reality is little more than a conjectural
hypothesis. To say a thing is real is an interpretation we make, a conclusion we come to, a
judgment rendered. These all describe actions that take place within ourselves. This simple
fact implies that "real" is less a thing in itself, and more a thing within us, at least to the degree
that any of us deal with that which we see as real.
Belief is an important aspect in making a thing real to us. To believe something means we
take it to be real. “All things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”
"Being real" denotes a sense of substantiality, of something existing as being present, in stark
contrast to the emptiness of absence. The substantiality of a thing is a reflection of the belief
we have invested in it. In the absence of this investment, we cannot take that something
seriously because to us it lacks substance: it is then ephemeral, a wish, a fantasy. While we
cannot believe in a fantasy, (for we see a fantasy as a figment of the mind, and as such, lacking
in substance), we can believe in reality. But do we believe because it is real, or is it real
because we believe?
Insofar as reality appears to us as real, seems entirely dependent upon our capacity to
believe it to be real. In the absence of our believing something to be real it simply is not real
to us, it is not reality. As we possess the capacity to choose whether to believe or to disbelieve,
"real" is not a thing in itself, rather, it is a quality we deliberately impose upon our
experiences, regardless of the state of consciousness we find ourselves in during the
experiencing. That is, the reality each of us believes to be confronting us is a subjective
experience we are having. This means that anything we call real is a reflection of ourselves
moreso than it is a reflection of that which we would proclaim real.
We imbue reality upon that which we perceive by our consideration of those perceptions as
reflecting reality, and our belief that that consideration is correct. Whether in the world of
waking or the worlds of dream we find excuse to believe that what we are experiencing is real.
This tendency to call something “real” is our own selective projection of interpretation onto
the elements of our perceptions. We see as real what we have chosen to see as real. The birth
of reality takes place within us, within our imaginations. The active matrix that is our
imagination choreographs and imparts order to what we experience as reality from the chaotic
inputs that comprise our sensory perceptions. This being the case, in an intelligible sense, all
existing things of which we are aware are imaginary, for it is in our imaginations that we
experience our reality. Through our imaginations, we experience what we take to be reality in
the theatres of our minds, and then we interpret that vision of reality as something that exists
outside of ourselves. But is that interpretation correct? To presume reality upon the thing
existing outside of the one who is considering it real is simply that, presumptuous, for it is unarguable that no thing can be said to be real in the absence of an awareness of that thing. Therefore, to conclude that there is a reality that exists outside of ourselves, that is as real as or more real than ourselves, is to be blind to our own magical natures. If such a reality exists, how can we validate its existence outside of our own consideration of it? Moreover, if we cannot, where is its objectivity? We must conclude that that objectivity exists only within our subjective
perceptions of it; and this being the case, there is no objectivity. Thus, while most of us seem
inclined to take the world of appearances that our senses present to us to be the real world, we
ought instead to strive to come to terms with the reality that is ourselves.
"Ourselves" are creatures of imagination. Our "reality" is imagined. By imaginary and
imagined, I do not mean to imply "illusory." By means of illustration, you are imagining the
words on this page as you read them, yet you would not equate those words or this page with
being illusory. In this context, "the imagination" is the part of your awareness that constructs
the reality we perceive and imposes meaning upon that construction. A sound enters our ears
and we hear it, yet we do not hear the sound with our ears but through them. Similarly light
enters our eyes and we see it, yet we do not see with our eyes, but apparently through them.
We can say the same for any of the sensory impressions that we experience. The experience of
those impressions occurs within our imaginations, in the theatre of our minds, and not within
our sensory organs. In a dream, do the sounds you hear or the things you see depend upon
what impinges upon your ears or eyes? No! These things are products of your imagination,
and it is this same imagination that grants life to the world of your waking experience.
Our imaginations construct and give form to that which we come to consider as reality. Our minds reconstruct our energetic perceptions into the form of sensory experiences in which terms we relate to those energetic perceptions. Our experience of that reality occurs within us. What is "out there" is an interpretation being given birth to "in here." While that reality may seem to extend outside and beyond ourselves, to come to such a conclusion as to its nature represents a misperception in perspective; for
that reality exists for us only in our experience of it, and that experience occurs within our
imaginations, that is, within us. Though we may presume that we are experiencing something
"out there," the experiencing is occurring "in here." Any conclusions we come to as to a reality
existing beyond ourselves is nothing more than an interpretation we are making of what we
find within ourselves.
The workings of our imagination foist upon our perceptions the patterns and templates from
which we construct that which becomes our experience of those perceptions. Both our
apprehension of those perceptions and the perceptions themselves are colored by the
interpretative biases under which our awareness operates: our likes, our dislikes, our
predispositions and our prejudices, the view of the world that we were taught to hold to and
the habitual patterns under which we operate. These perceptual biases function as filters that
not only determine what we see and how we see it, but also what we do not see. It is because of
the fact that our perceptions are so filtered, that what we see in looking at something depends
not so much on what is there, as it does upon the assumptions and expectations we bring with
us in looking at it.
What we see depends very much upon what we are looking to see. What we take to be reality
is a subjective experience built upon the workings of our perceptual systems, a projection of
our interpretation systems onto the experience of our perceptions. Our seeing something as
reality is nothing more than our making a subjective interpretation. Let us look to the
example of the words upon this screen. If I were to ask you something like, "Where precisely
do you see those words?", you would answer me something along the lines of "I see them on
the screen of a computer monitor sitting about half of a meter in front of my eyes." What you
would be telling me with such an answer would be your interpretation of your experience, but
the simple truth is that the experience of your seeing those words and that monitor is
happening within the theatre of your own mind. Your experience of what you see as "out
there" is happening "in here."
That you see those things as "something out there" is an interpretation you are making based
upon what you are seeing right now in your own mind. Though you interpret it as being
without, its truth is that it is occurring within. What you see as the world around you is, in
fact, a projection of your interpretation system, and as such, your own reflection. As
Descartes says, "I think, therefore I am."
Our existence as a creature of awareness is all we can presume to know as real, for despite the
apparent reality that we project upon our experiences as creatures of awareness, the truth is
that in the absence of an awareness of reality, nothing can be said to be real. We are forced to
conclude that the seeming substance of what we see as an outside reality is a matter of
conjecture, for our experience of it as reality is simply a product of the interpretative processes
of our awareness. Our experience of reality begins and ends in our own awareness of that experience. All phenomena of which we are aware take place and find meaning within our own minds, and that includes the experience that we take to be ourselves.
Buddhism teaches us, and the modern cognitive scientist would agree, that all of our
experiences, whether dreamed or waking, are by nature subjective. This conclusion is a hard
one with which to make an argument. A thing experienced is no guarantee of the thing in
question. A desert mirage may offer the promise of a drink to be had and yet the truth of that
promise is only sand. But mirages aside, the descriptive systems (filters) we rely upon to
make interpretation of the worlds of our perception are subjective in nature. That is, our
experiences seem to us subjectively real. The waking world and the world(s) of dream seem to
us as real as real can be from our subjective points of view.
That our experiences are only subjectively real means that, for most of us, perception has become a simple reflexive action that occurs without true mindfulness. What is meant by that is, for the most part, the attention we give to our perceptions is unaccompanied by an awareness of having utilized subjective filters through which those perceptions are apprehended. When our experience of "reality" is unaccompanied by the awareness of having utilized these subjective filters in that reality's apprehension, we grant to our experience the appearance of an existence apart from our consideration of it; that is, we assume that what we experience to be "out there" is something that exists in and of itself regardless of our consideration of it. The result is that
we take the experience of our perceptions to be "substantially real". This means that when we
are unaware of the basis under which we apprehend that which comes to be our experience,
our interpretations of those experiences come with the presumption that they are reflections
of an outside real world and not reflections of our own imaginations. In other words, when we
do not know that we are dreaming, we assume that we are confronted by reality. This same
line of reasoning applies to the consideration of our waking state, in which our imaginations
are "dreaming" the reality that confronts us within the theatres of our minds, and then
interprets that play which becomes our "real world" as something existing outside of
ourselves. It is inconceivable that we could be aware of any thing outside of our own
awareness of that thing. Let me repeat that. It is inconceivable that we could be aware of any
thing outside of our own awareness of that thing. No thing has existence for man except
through the awareness he has of it. Therefore, all existing things can only be said with
certainty to exist within your awareness of them. The real world you believe to be
surrounding you is imagined, and in that imagination, you are seeing the projection of your
own reflection. Therefore, if you want to see something else, be something else!
Tim James
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
God's 7,000 Year Plan
Does God have a 7,000 year plan for mankind? Some believe that since God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh that mankind will have 6,000 years to live on the earth under Satan’s influence, and will have one thousand years under Christ’s rule.
This belief stems from consideration of the 7 days of creation as outlined in the book of Genesis as having a dual meaning . Ergo, the seven days of creation pre-suppose a period of seven thousand years for mankind‘s creation. God’s days are mankind’s millenniums.
The origin of this view has been attributed to the prophet Elijah:
“The ancient and popular doctrine of the millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state, according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was fixed to six thousand years. By the same analogy it was inferred that this long period of labor and contention, which was now almost elapsed, would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years, and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect, who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and general resurrection.” [THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Edward Gibbon, Vol. 1, p. 403]
Hippolytus promoted this seven thousand year plan during the late second and early third centuries AD. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls Hippolytus one of the most prolific religious writer of the Roman Church in the pre-Constantinian era. I am by no means here to promote the Catholic church’s views, and this 7,000 year doctrine is no longer official Catholic doctrine, but here’s what Hippolytus had to say on the subject:
“And 6,000 years must needs be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day ‘on which God rested from all His works.’ For the Sabbath is the type and emblem for the future kingdom of the saints, when they ‘shall reign with Christ,’ when He comes from heaven, as John says in his Apocalypse: for ‘a day with the Lord is as a thousand years.’ Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6,000 years must be fulfilled.” [ http://www.new advent.org/fathers/0502.htm ]
And while the Epistle of Barnabas is not considered to be inspired, it does demonstrate that there were those in the second century who did understand this idea of a 6,000 year period followed by the millennial reign of Christ:
“Moreover concerning the Sabbath likewise it is written in the ten words, in which He spake to Moses face to face on Mount Sinai; ‘and ye shall hallow the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and with a pure heart.’ And in another place He saith; ‘If My sons observe the Sabbath then I will bestow My mercy upon them.’ Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; ‘And God made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it.’ Give heed, children, what this meaneth; ‘He ended in six days.’ He meaneth this, that in six thousand years the Lord will bring all things to an end; for the day with Him signifyeth a thousand years; and this He Himself beareth me witness, saying, ‘Behold the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years.’ Therefore, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end. ‘And He rested on the seventh day.’ This He meaneth; when His Son shall come, and shall abolish the time of the Lawless One, and shall judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun and the moon and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day.” [ Epistle of Barnabas, 15:1-5 Available here: http://www.carm.org/apologetics/lost-books/epistle-barnabas ]
The scriptures seem indeed to lend some credence to this view:
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” [2Peter 3:8]
And from the old testament:
“For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past.” [Psalm 90:4]
God told Adam he would die "in the day" he ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. [Gen. 2:17] We know that it is impossible for God to lie. [Heb. 6:18] Yet Adam died at the age of 930 years. We must therefore conclude that the "day" in which he died was a "day" of one thousand years in length.
And look again to the new testament for this passage:
“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, ‘Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk as you suppose, since it is the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in these last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh.” [Hebrews 1:1-2]
Now the world certainly didn’t come to an end during the lifetime of Peter, so what he has said here really makes no sense if we consider “these last days” as a reference to twenty-four hour periods. If, however, he is referring to the last (thousand year) days of the creation “week” it makes perfect sense, as he would be saying this in the fifth day of that week, one of the latter or last days of the week as opposed to the first or former days of the week.
If this view is correct, then the end of that first 6,000 years would incorporate the period of the great tribulation which immediately precedes Christ’s return to the earth. The great tribulation is the final three and a half years discussed in Daniel and the book of Revelation in which the majority of the earth’s population is extinguished by natural and supernatural disasters and the final massive world war.
So, a reasonable question for believers and unbelievers alike would be, when is that six thousand years up? Believers would like to be prepared, and doubtless unbelievers would like to be able to say that time is up and look nothing happened...
Genesis 5:3-29 and 7:11 show that 1,656 years transpired between the creation of Adam and the Flood of Noah’s day.
Genesis 11:10-32 show that 427 years passed between the Flood and the time when Abram left Haran (at the death of Terah) See also Acts 7:4 and Genesis 12:4.
Comparing Genesis 12:4 with Genesis 17:1 reveals Abraham’s age when God made the covenant of circumcision with him. From this we can deduce that 24 years had passed since he left Haran.
According to Galatians 3:16-17, 430 years passed between the making of this covenant and the Sinai covenant - the year of the exodus. See also Exodus 12:40
480 years passed from the exodus to the making of the first temple begun in the fourth year of King Solomon. See I Kings 6:1
There is some controversy regarding in which year BC Solomon began his reign, but here are four which suggest a common date:
Working back from these dates and the biblical references to the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah (78 years from the death of Ahab in 853/852 BC) the Kingdom of Solomon was divided in 931/930 BC, at the ascension of Rehoboam to the throne of Israel following the death of Solomon. Since Solomon reigned forty years (v. 42), he must have ascended the throne in 971/970 BC (Long, Jesse. 1 & 2 Kings: 1 and 2 Kings. College Press, 2002, p. 156)
SOLOMON (Reigned c. 970-c. 932 Bc) (Canning, John. 100 Great Kings, Queens, and Rulers of the World. Taplinger Pub. Co., 1967, p. 52)
SOLOMON THE KING Solomon's reign was long, lasting forty years (970-931) as
had his father's before him (Leon James Wood & David O'Brien. A Survey of Israel's History. Zondervan, 1986, p. 253).
Solomon 40 C. 970-931 BCE (Israel Finkelstein & Neil Asher Silberman. David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition. Simon and Schuster, 2007, p. 20).
Assuming the 970 BC date to be correct, the fourth year of Solomon’s reign would have occurred in 966 BC.
Adding 1,656 + 427 + 24 + 430 + 480 + 966 gives us a total of 3.983 years. This would be the date BC of Adam’s creation. Adding 6,000 years to this date brings us to the date 2018 AD (remember there is no year 0 between the years 1 BC and 1 AD).
Now there is no indication where we should commence our counting of these years, either from Adam’s creation or from his fall, nor a biblical indication of how many years may have passed between his creation and that fall, so a later date from which to begin counting may be indicated, though probably not much later. And then again, it is written:
“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” [Matthew 24:22]
This would suggest that the full 6,000 years need not come to their full end before Christ returns to put a stop to The Great Tribulation (which begins 3 and ½ years prior to their ending) and establish the Kingdom of God.
Either way, the time seems near.
Endnotes -
It is reasonable to conclude that the birth of Cain occurred following the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, as it isn’t mentioned until after that expulsion. There are seven generations beginning with and descended from Cain listed in the book of Genesis prior to the mention of the birth of Seth when Adam was 130 years of age. Not knowing the age at which people in those days may
have become "married", but assuming 15 years of age and six generations having attained the age capable of conception of the next generation, this would allow us 40 years to be added to the date above as the possible end-date if the count begins with Adam’s fall, for it would be reasonable to assume Adam was 40 years of age when Cain was born. Assuming an age of 20 years would allow addition of only another 10 years to that date.
While not included in the bible, the Book of Jubilees defines the period from Adam's creation to his expulsion from the garden:
Jubilees 3:17-33 And after the completion of the seven years, which he had completed there, seven years exactly, [8 A.M.] and in the second month, on the seventeenth day (of the month), the serpent came and approached the woman, and the serpent said to the woman, 'Hath God commanded you, saying, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' And she said to it, 'Of all the fruit of the trees of the garden God hath said unto us, Eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden. God hath said unto us, Ye shall not eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that on the day ye shall eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as gods, and ye will know good and evil. And the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit was good for food, and she took thereof and eat. And when she had first covered her shame with figleaves, she gave thereof to Adam and he eat, and his eyes were opened, and he saw that he was naked. And he took figleaves and sewed (them) together, and made an apron for himself, and covered his shame. And God cursed the serpent, and was wroth with it for ever . . . And He was wroth with the woman, because she harkened to the voice of the serpent, and did eat; and He said unto her: 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy pains: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and he will rule over thee.' And to Adam also he said, ' Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake: thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return.' And He made for them coats of skin, and clothed them, and sent them forth from the Garden of Eden. And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame. And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they couldno longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue. And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was scattered according to its kinds, and according to its types unto the places which had been created for them. And to Adam alone did He give (the wherewithal) to cover his shame, of all the beasts and cattle. On this account, it is prescribed on the heavenly tablets as touching all those who know the judgment of the law, that they should cover their shame, and should not uncover themselves as the Gentiles uncover themselves. And on the new moon of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went forth from the Garden of Eden...
Thus, if we go by this account, the end date (the date of Christ's return) would be on or before 2025 AD.
Estimates of the beginning of the reign of Solomon range from about 970BC to 1015BC. Choosing a date earlier than 970BC would subtract years from the 2018AD end date, whereas a later date would allow the addition of years to that date.
“No man knows the hour or the day!” Many like to refer to this biblical reference to argue that it is folly to attempt to reason out exactly when Christ returns. However, most of these do not realize that Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets) is referred to as the holy day of which “no man knows the hour or the day”. This is why in current times it is celebrated over two days. Thus this quote directs our attention to the fall feasts. The Book of Revelation clearly expects us to be watchful and to know, and gives us the events to look for and the days to count. God does not want us ignorant.
Jesus Christ died on Passover, was buried during The Days of Unleavened Bread, rose on Firstfruits, and distributed the Holy Spirit to his followers on Shavuot (Pentecost). In the same way Christ fulfilled the spring holy days on those holy days during His first coming, we should expect Him to fulfill the fall holy days upon His return.
Tim James
