Amazing Nature

OddTrader · Jun 4, 2016

I would like to mention that my personal-opinion/ treatise was based on the following quests/queries about a/the definition of God/Origin, since I believe every individuals could have a very different definition/perception/construct of God.

A God/Origin of creation, construction, logic, rationality, order, system, mystery (to be scientifically investigated/researched), etc.

Some would think inventing and producing more powerful physical weapons can overcome religious extremists. Perhaps a much more powerful and effective weapon, and a most economically viable and long-lasting one, could be a spiritual one!

The huge money saved then can be used for improving our national/world poverty! Potentially a long-lasting Peace for religious conflicts!

OddTrader said:
As mentioned below, a possible definition should be still feasible, to be developed for practical uses. Most importantly, an associated peace theory then can be also mapped/ built-in!

1. The definition ideally should be acceptable not just by religious believers of all major faiths (including theological and philosophical studies), but also secular societies (including scientists of various fields).

2. We may need a new set of logic system that the God definition to be based on. The limitations of existing logic systems might be not good enough for this purpose.

3. The definition should be offered comfortably for education purpose at all levels including kids around the world, while introducing sciences concurrently, since there should be no conflict among them (faiths/sciences) according to this new definition system.

Just 2 cents!
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http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/is-god-mute.292671/page-60

OddTrader said:
Might be better to separate the followings independently:

1. God, the Origin of all things and everything. We would never fully understand the Origin, theoretically and philosophically. What is God? Who besides God has the knowledge and is able to define God.

2. Religion, a man-made organisation, usually using the name of God. Someone says, religion makes a good man better, bad man worse. Religions can perform good thing and bad things.

3. Faith/Belief, everyone has at least one faith/belief, e.g. a faith/belief in certain science/mathematical/economic theory; a faith/belief in no God; a faith/belief in no AGW; a faith/belief in Mao/Kim/Trump; etc.
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http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/atheism.300055/page-6#post-4286338

OddTrader · Jun 4, 2016

http://hume.ucdavis.edu/mattey/phi143/stoaphys.htm

God

God is a rational animal on the cosmic scale. The hallmark of rationality is command, which is based on assent to what is thought to be best. Thus the Stoic god is the ruler of the universe, setting all things into motion based on what it knows to be the best for the universe. We are told that the principal concerns of divine providence are "first, that the cosmos be as well suited as possible for remaining in existence, second, that it be in need of nothing, but most of all that it should possess surpassing beauty and every adornment" (Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods, 2.58).

We know that god exists because the cosmos exists, and nothing is better than the cosmos. Being rational is the best condition of any being, so the cosmos is rational. Moreover, the rationality of the cosmos is revealed in the impressive organization of the universe, from vegetative life to motions of the heavenly bodies, which is described at great length by Cicero. [size/]
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http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/

In accord with this ontology, the Stoics, like the Epicureans, make God a corporeal entity, though not (as with the Epicureans) one made of everyday matter. But while the Epicureans think the gods are too busy being blessed and happy to be bothered with the governance of the universe (Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus 123–4), the Stoic God is immanent throughout the whole of creation and directs its development down to the smallest detail. God is identical with one of the two ungenerated and indestructible first principles (archai) of the universe. One principle is matter which they regard as utterly unqualified and inert. It is that which is acted upon. God is identified with an eternal reason (logos, Diog. Laert. 44B ) or intelligent designing fire (Aetius, 46A) which structures matter in accordance with Its plan. This plan is enacted time and time again, beginning from a state in which all is fire, through the generation of the elements, to the creation of the world we are familiar with, and eventually back to fire in a cycle of endless recurrence. The designing fire of the conflagration is likened to a sperm which contains the principles or stories of all the things which will subsequently develop (Aristocles in Eusebius, 46G). Under this guise, God is also called ‘fate.’ It is important to realise that the Stoic God does not craft its world in accordance with its plan from the outside, as the demiurge in Plato's Timaeus is described as doing. Rather, the history of the universe is determined by God's activity internal to it, shaping it with its differentiated characteristics. The biological conception of God as a kind of living heat or seed from which things grow seems to be fully intended. The further identification of God with pneuma or breath may have its origins in medical theories of the Hellenistic period. See Baltzly (2003).
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This believable concept, imo, below of God and cosmos basically is a well known concept in Stoic physics in ancient Greek philosophy.

Everything is part of God/Cosmos. God and everything/every-man are inseparable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoic_physics

OddTrader said:
My 2 cents:

1. Mr Jesus, as each of us as well as everything in the multiverse, is part of God/Origin. Jesus himself did Not kill anyone according to the bible. Jesus did not say or accept/reply that "I am God", when he was asked by his followers. Jesus even instructed his followers not to fight back!

2. People killed people due to mainly anger and/or hatred (or else), that is against God's will/order. Expensive lesson for us to learn. A peaceful world, without any killing is God's will! Time/money/energy/strategy/policy should be used to attain this objective.

3. How organised religions used Jesus for attaining certain purposes is entirely another issue!
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http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/atheism.300055/page-7#post-4286414

stu · Jun 5, 2016

ETcallhome · Jun 5, 2016

stu said:

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Then who should I pray to?

OddTrader · Jun 8, 2016

Many people know the name of the best designer in our universe is called Nature!

OddTrader · Jun 10, 2016

OddTrader said:
The future religions are smart religions, as with the same compassion spirit in the past!

The true meaning of religions does Not want to spend time/energy/resources into (potentially never ending) research-level of studies. Sometimes huge Spending on research equipment and war planes/ships, leaving the homeless, the sick and the jobless alone! (Many donations, big or small, are more likely for elections and politicians who are supposed to improve our societies/systems!)

Instead, the religious people would provide helps to the needed for their daily and immediate needs, physical and emotional! Offering the practice of love, faith and hope to the ones who need them dearly!

That no any other places and people can offer so closely and frequently! Unselfishly!

In religions, the letters would kill, but the compassion spirit that can be sometimes available possibly 24/7/256 nearby will live, IIf found! imo
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A future religion, a practical philosophy, should be a religion about a system of emotions, with systematic and scientific approach. While removing All superstitions from the bible stories!

As mentioned lately, all sciences (and the related theories and instruments) are meant/ developed to gradually discover the ever-lasting mysteries of our GOD/ ORIGIN in the multi-universe!

There might be another or more systems of GOD/ORIGIN beyond our comprehension, that never been seen/understood by human beings, due to the limitations of our eyes/brain/imagination/etc and the contemporary science/maths theories that are not only limited by the boundaries of our eyes/brain/imagination/etc but also limit our understanding and knowledge of our GOD/ORIGIN and beyond.

The many other systems of God in various forms and shapes, western or oriental, should be considered as subsets of our GOD/ORIGIN system! This scientific system is a scientifically believable GOD/ORIGIN system!

The future religion is about compassion (suffers, losses, etc), about love (agape love and other kinds), about removal of fear/hatred and about emotions that other sciences had not performed enough research enough. A new science beyond the existing conventional religions!

One extremely important aspect of the future religion is about Change! That the existing conventional religions have done very well historically!

Almost no any existing sciences including psychological, medical approaches or organisations can do a better job, for various rational/logical and emotional reasons AFAIK.

A typical example is the Newton in The Amazing Grace!

A change is to re-orientate and realign a person's life to fit into our GOD/ORIGIN's system (the Nature)!

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OddTrader said:
Perhaps an even more important or critical issue would be the emotion, especially love emotion between male/female (covering same sex), of living animals including humans in particular.

Saying and believing in merely chemical evolution and/or modern sciences, without considering the cause/source of emotion, would be a bit too simplistic! imo
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conduit · Jun 10, 2016

So what do you believe in? Do you consider yourself to be a Christian?

ETcallhome said:
nothing is not nothing. They still haven't figured out what nothing is, but they know it is out there and they are working on it.
Like I try to tell the atheists, it's not what you believe so much but your faith that if you are curious and stick with it the discovery of nothing can be a pleasant search. They don't see the point in searching for nothing because of either the way they were raised or they think trying to find something in nothing is a foolish superstition.
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OddTrader · Jun 11, 2016

Just my 2 cents:

The historical followers of Jesus did not call themselves Christians! They did not dare to be recognised as Jesus' followers in public! They just kept themselves hidden behind closed door. Otherwise, they would be killed if known they were Jesus' followers.

Because they would say Yes (and then be killed), If asked "Are you follower of Jesus?"! However, they would probably say No, when asked "Are you a Christian (in actual terms)?", because they knew humbly they could be far away from reaching consistently the commonly expected level of Jesus-likeness Yet!

(I have no idea for the probable answer when a true and humble Buddha would be asked "Are you a Buddha?"! My guess the answer would be most likely a fairly indirect parable statement, rather than directly Yes or No! )

However, any living example of the age were seemed by others carrying some unique characters of Jesus-likeness then they said that fellow was like a Christian, according to his emotional/compassionate acts they experienced/realised! Whether that fellow was actually a follower of Jesus or not was unimportant at all!

There are only 3 times in the bible that Christian is mentioned in the Acts! Where the followers of Jesus accepted/recognised that the mystic GOD many secular people believe is the same God they believe, as per Jesus's teaching!

ETcallhome · Jun 11, 2016

conduit said:
So what do you believe in? Do you consider yourself to be a Christian?
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you don't have to believe in God to search for him. Christianity is simply a thought process which breaks the law of Karma. There are two gods. One is the one astrophysicists search for. The other one is a personal god which I thank every day for all He has done for me and all the prayers he has answered.

OddTrader · Jun 11, 2016

The mystical power of Prayer and/or/vs Mindfulness

" The plain English translation is there is ample evidence that Mindfulness works, but we don’t really have any idea how it works."

Think For Yourself: Mindfulness

John Turnbull 11 June 2016

https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/think-for-yourself-mindfulness,9094

Would you like to be healthier, more focused, happier in your relationship and generally fabulous? Maybe Mindfulness is the answer! IA critical thinker John Turnbull investigates.

Mindfulness, Synergy and Amplification

If you work in the corporate world, there is a good chance you’ve heard the word Mindfulness recently. Along with over-used terms like Content Marketing and Brand Amplification, Mindfulness seems to be the buzzword of 2016. But what does it really mean?

The Oxford dictionary defines Mindfulness as:

‘A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.’

It is widely accepted that the increased prevalence of smartphones has reduced most people’s “down time”, as they access work emails from home, read world news on the train and check Facebook as soon as they wake up, all ultimately resulting in higher levels of stress. There is also widespread media supposition that the rise of technology has reduced the human attention span.

In a Forbes article earlier this week, Amy Morin made the point that:

‘According to a study by the Microsoft Corp, the average attention span in today’s world is about eight seconds. That means goldfish have longer attention spans than humans.’

Fortunately, a little digging reveals that this “study” was released by Microsoft’s advertising department and is based on two unrelated papers — another fine example of the misuse of science by marketers skewered so effectively by John Oliver.

Even if the human attention span still exceeds that of a goldfish, it seems fair to admit that many people experience stress based on choices they have made in the past or worries about their future. Is it fair to assume, therefore, that spending more time in the moment might reduce stress?

Benefits of Mindfulness

While the detail differs slightly from site to site, most Mindfulness proponents claim five key benefits including;

Increased relationship satisfaction
Improved physical health
Decreased emotional reactivity
Heightened focus
Increased mental strength

Bastion of scientific literacy (not really) the Huffington Post lists an impressive 20 reasons why Mindfulness is good for you, almost all of which are variations on the above, but amusingly includes ‘It could help our troops’. Sure, why not?

Where did Mindfulness come from?

Concepts similar to Mindfulness have existed for thousands of years, incorporated in relaxation techniques like yoga and religions such as Zen Buddhism and Transcendentalism. While there were hints of Mindfulness in the hippy meanderings of the Sixties, the modern Mindfulness movement really kicked off in the late 1970s, when Jon Kabat-Zinn founded the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MSBR) program at the University of Massachusetts.

Widely accepted as the father of modern Mindfulness (and quote source for many of the mindfulness memes you will find online), Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Originally inspired by Buddhism, Kabat-Zinn eventually focused on a combination of meditation and Hatha yoga, founding the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Clearly not a fan of brevity, he also wrote the book Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, published in 1991.

What does the Science say?

While there haven’t been a massive number of robust research studies into Mindfulness, in 2015 researchers Jenny Gu, Clara Strauss, Rod Bond and Kate Cavanagh conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of meditation studies that specifically examined the effectiveness of Mindfulness and the mechanisms behind how it works. They concluded:

‘This review identified strong, consistent evidence for cognitive and emotional reactivity, moderate and consistent evidence for mindfulness, rumination, and worry, and preliminary but insufficient evidence for self-compassion and psychological flexibility as mechanisms underlying Mindfulness Based Interventions.’

(How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies, 2015)

The plain English translation is there is ample evidence that Mindfulness works, but we don’t really have any idea how it works.

Is there a downside to Mindfulness?

Titled ‘Increased False Memory Susceptibility After Mindfulness Meditation’, a 2015 joint study by the Departments of Psychology from the University of California and the University of London suggests that mindfulness meditation may increase the subject’s susceptibility to false memories.

‘By embracing judgment-free awareness and acceptance, meditators can have greater difficulty differentiating internal and external sources of information... Their reality-monitoring accuracy may be impaired, increasing their susceptibility to false memories.’ (Wilson et al, 2015)

While this study has limitations typical of many psychological studies (mainly that it is a study of middle class University students rather than the total population) it does provide an interesting counterpoint to the overwhelmingly positive narrative that you’ll find in most places.

A recent Guardian article examined the phenomena of people experiencing panic attacks following Mindfulness meditation, and psychologists Farias and Wikholm raised concern about the lack of research into the adverse effects of meditation in their book The Buddha Pill.

Conclusion

It is a somewhat sad reflection on our modern world that the ability to consider a situation with a clear and calm mind might be considered a superpower, but if you can ignore the mountain of hyperbole, there do seem to be some benefits to Mindfulness.

Let me be clear. Mindfulness is not a substitute for medical care. It is unlikely Mindfulness will improve your physical strength, make you taller, protect you from disease or cure all your woes, but if you suffer from depression, dwell excessively in the past or worry too much about the future, then Mindfulness may be of some benefit to you.

A final point; if you’re looking for a Mindfulness provider, it’s worth doing a bit of homework first. As with any burgeoning healthcare trend, there are good and bad practitioners in the Mindfulness field, and it can be tricky to see past a smooth sales pitch and glowing testimonials. If in doubt, speak to your GP.

Think for yourself.
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